I mentally smash ‘confirm’ as fast as possible.
Payment processed.
Grave danger detected: speeding up perception of time to deliver the purchase.
The world seems to slow, but that doesn’t stop the thing from charging with its jaws open wide. It turns its head to the side and leans down to aim for my leg, but when I try to run, all of my movements are too slow. Everything except for my thoughts.
No starting spells detected.
No mana detected.
Granting spells Shield and Projectile at no cost.
(5) temporary glass lones granted for the demonstration.
Five small glass coins the size of pennies appear before me. They hover in midair between me and the shark-dog, then spin on their vertical axis to show off what their faces hold. On one side is a single tally mark, and the other a strange pattern that almost looks like the structure of some molecule.
Your Worth is your life, your power, and your progress.
Individual coins hold little value in trade, yet can be used in many different ways.
The most common is as a vehicle for spells.
Take the allocated coins and force the ‘Shield’ spell into one of them.
There’s no more explanation after that, and I can feel the world going back to normal speed as the text fades from my vision. Dread washes over me as teeth and weight are suddenly moving that much faster, but something doesn’t let me run. The coins in my hand twitch and shiver with untapped potential. I try to focus as much as I can with the remnants of slowed time I have, shift the coins ever so slightly, and hold one between my ring and middle fingers.
I visualize a frontal barrier in front of me that could easily block the shark-dog’s attacks, then squeeze the coin as tightly as I can.
“Shield!”
The coin glows for a split second. An uncontrollable urge to throw the coin seeps out of my mind, and my body obeys. I flick my fingers and let go of the coin, watch it sail through the air with way more force than I put into it, and look away as the coin collides with the dog.
A barrier of translucent grey light erupts from the coin as it shatters into a million pieces. The dog yelps in surprise as its head slams into the solid object, which is followed by a sickening crunch as the rest of its weight catches up with it.
I finally regain my senses and take multiple steps back towards the easier terrain, shifting the other four coins between my fingers to ready myself for the follow-up. Except it doesn’t come. The shark-dog stumbles around for a few seconds in obvious disorientation, whipping its head around as it searches for the source of the barrier.
It hasn’t made the connection that I did that. But it’s looking for something else, and completely ignoring me. Does that mean there’s something else around here that it knows can make barriers?
I shake my head and put the thought away for later. One problem at a time.
‘Shield’ has been registered to your Class Card as a level one spell.
Information on it has been revealed based on your ‘Mind’ stat.
‘Projectile’ has yet to be registered.
I can fix that real easy. I shift a coin into throwing position and take aim at the disoriented dog, then push that same feeling from before down into the coin.
“Projectile.”
The coin shakes fiercely between my fingers, and before I can even make an attempt at throwing it, it flies out on its own. The thing bursts into shards the moment it leaves my fingers, and those shards all explode into dull grey energy that wraps around a brighter grey nucleus until there’s a swirling mass of energy flying straight at the dog.
‘Projectile’ has been registered to your Class Card as a level one spell.
It slams into the thing’s side with an audible thump. The thing shrieks as it's taken off its feet, tumbles a few times in the sand, and splashes into the water with enough force to skip twice. I stare at the poor animal in disbelief for a few seconds, then wince as the thing’s corpse floats to the surface of the water.
Blood leaks out of a gnarled hole in its side, polluting the pristine water with rivulets of ruby red. I wait a few seconds for any other disturbances–like the thing that had killed whatever I saw when I first got here–but all I have to show for my patience is an even bigger blood stain.
I glance up at the sky with a frown. Wasn’t I supposed to get experience for this? Or… loot, at least? Maybe some Worth, since I’m somehow supposed to get a thousand of the stuff in two weeks. Of which I currently have a whopping seventeen.
“Hey, system. Why didn’t I get anything for that kill?”
Nothing answers me.
“Damn it. How am I supposed to get ‘Worth’ if those ghost quarters don’t count towards it, and neither does killing a monster?” I mutter under my breath as I hike up my pants and wade into the water. “Bullshit system doesn’t want to help me at all. Probably wants me to die so someone else can get the Gambler coin.”
My mutterings pause when the water starts to rub against me like a sponge. I pause and look down, but I can’t see anything below the middle of my calves. It doesn’t feel like an animal, but more like the water itself is somehow… abrasive?
I shake my head and laugh. “I just walked on a kinetic sand beach and fought a shark-dog with magic, and I’m worried about water that’s a little too rough. Maybe I’m just kicking up way too much sand.”
Yeah, sure. I totally believe my own bullshit. It’s definitely not some kind of freakish leech with sandpaper skin and hooked teeth that pumps you full of sedative so you don’t feel it latching onto your skin and draining away your bone marrow.
For absolutely no reason at all, there’s a little more pep in my step as I wade out to thigh-deep waters and grab the shark-dog by its hind legs. I pull it back as fast as physically possible, wincing as the rough waters abrade my delicate skin to what I can only imagine as a horrible shade of blood-red.
I spring free from the water and haul the shark-dog onto the sand, gasping and panting as terrified sweat cascades off me in buckets. Oh, God, I don’t want to look at my legs. Just because they don’t feel like someone took a fine cheese grater to them, doesn’t mean that they aren’t bloody and stringy with abraded flesh.
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Gathering my courage takes longer than anything else I’d done so far today, but eventually I look down at my legs with grit teeth and a held breath. I exhale and laugh in relief when all it managed to do is make my skin look a little smoother, then shake my head as the mirth drains and is replaced with cold, hard reality.
“I’m going to have to eat this.”
I look around, hoping for something to interrupt me, but nothing does.
“System, is the spell tutorial done? It didn’t feel like I got my… Worth’s worth.”
No answer. Again.
“Call card.”
My Class Card appears in my free hand. I pull it open for the second time, then stare at the pair of filled grid slots. The ghost quarters could be used as a replacement for spending my very limited Worth on spells, but that wasn’t going to get me any closer to my goal of a thousand Worth. It’d just staunch the bleeding.
I reach tentatively towards the other filled square, fully expecting to be denied once again.
This item is a package, and if removed, will automatically open.
The items inside take up far more than one inventory space.
However, it is highly recommended to take and use it as soon as physically possible.
Well that solved a mystery I hadn’t even found yet. I close my fingers around the holographic image, then yank them back in a pulling motion. A thick cloth strap appears between my fingers, and an entire backpack follows not a second later.
I stumble back in surprise. The backpack isn’t much to look at–just a plain brown thing with two shoulder straps and no pockets save for the main one, which is sealed by a flap and two metal fasteners. So definitely not watertight. I reach down to flip the two metal protrusions, pull the flap away, and expose the contents to the light of dusk.
Inside is a change of clothes, a box of energy bars, and an empty water bottle that looks like it has a filter inside of it. I can see all of it from the top, and when I clean it out, it becomes obvious that there isn’t anything else inside.
Even though I’d gone in expecting nothing, I still find myself disappointed. Well, at least the clothes look like my size. And the energy bars are the kind that taste alright. I look around as if there’d be anyone else here, then strip off my uncomfortable work clothes and change into the shorts, t-shirt, and strange toe-shoes the pack had given me.
I fill the bottle with water, take a single energy bar out of the box, then stand staring at the shark-dog as I ponder my options. There aren’t many of them, and most of them involve me butchering this animal for meat and bones.
And teeth. Lots and lots of teeth.
“Since I know absolutely nothing about how to do that, let’s check the rest of my Class Card first.” I mutter and look away from the blood draining into the sand.
The first tab has been completely exhausted for now, so I tap over to the one labeled ‘Stats’. The grid system blurs away and is replaced with five differently coloured letters and numbers that take up the entire golden screen.
1B/1M/1S/2F/17W
The ‘B’ is forest green, ‘M’ is light blue, ‘S’ is dark pink, ‘F’ is orange-ish yellow, and ‘W’ is silver. It’s a repeat of what’s on the card itself, and it seems like such a waste of an entire tab if this is its entire point. I reach out and press on the green ‘B’, and am pleasantly surprised when it zooms in and displays more text.
The ‘Body’ stat is both a high end of your possible physical prowess, and your body’s ability to adapt to unnatural changes.
A higher body stat allows for greater modifications, a higher physical ability in every way, and more efficient functions for all of your body’s performances.
What it does not do, however, is flat-out increase your physical prowess–rather, it raises the cap for what is possible to do with your human form.
Okay, now that was actual solid information. It doesn’t tell me exactly what a stat of one converts to, but at least now I know that I won’t suddenly be able to lift cars if I find something that increases my Body. It does allude to being able to do superhuman things, though I’ll probably have to work my ass off to get there.
I nod to myself, information already cemented in my brain, and pinch the screen to get back to the simple display. Then I go through the other stats one by one.
The ‘Mind’ stat is a show of how much information the system will dole out to you, in addition to how quickly–and accurately–your mind works.
A higher mind stat increases the amount of information gained from the system, improves your memory, improves reaction time, and all other brain-related functions.
It does not make you smarter.
It does not make you clever.
It does not make you immune to trickery, propaganda, or manipulation.
It does not…
The list of all the different ‘it does not’s goes on for at least a dozen more lines, and scrolls down even further than that. A lot of people probably dumped points into Mind and expected to become geniuses overnight, but it’s weird that the system is giving out so many disclaimers. There’s got to be more of a story there.
The ‘Soul’ stat is your magical aptitude.
Increasing this stat increases the effectiveness of your spells, but only if they are cast with mana.
It also increases the regeneration rate of your mana.
If you don’t know what ‘mana’ is while you are reading this, your Class does not have access to it.
Do not attempt to cast spells with mana you do not have.
It will either do nothing or it will kill you.
“Heard loud and clear, text-on-screen.” I chuckle to myself.
The ‘Fate’ stat is a hard threshold for certain events.
If you meet the requirements for an event, and your Fate is not high enough, the event will not trigger.
In addition, certain powerful aspects of spells, skills, or items also scale with fate.
–Note that the information below is only provided due to your Gambler class.
Fate is an all-or-nothing stat. Either it gives you absurd rewards and catapults you higher than any other stat can, or it will do absolutely nothing for you and leave you weaker than your peers. That is your Gamble, should you choose to build into it.
Now that–that sounds completely useless. All the other stats so far give some kind of combat power, but this one doesn’t look like it gives me anything except chances. And if they’re like any of the optional difficult quests for good loot I’ve played through in games, they were going to be ten times harder than anything else.
“Not that I have any points to spare anyway. But it looks like investing in Body is probably the best first bet. Or I’m severely underestimating how important Fate is.”
The ‘Worth’ stat is your currency.
Once you have accumulated sufficient Worth, you will be given access to certain bonuses.
Once you pass one of these thresholds, even if you dip beneath it, you will not lose the bonuses it provided or be able to trigger that specific threshold again.
–Note that the information below is only provided to you due to your Gambler class.
There are two forms of Worth: Net Worth and Liquid Worth.
Net Worth is the sum of everything stored in your Class Card that you could feasibly use to increase your power.
Liquid Worth is the Worth that you have on-hand to spend.
Worth thresholds only take into account your Liquid Worth, so it is recommended not to spend any until you reach a threshold, then make all of your purchases at once.
“Finally a few hints.” I mutter to myself. “That message from earlier said Gamber’s main stats were Fate and Worth, so that’s probably why I get more info on them. Which probably means there’s more to Mind, Body, and Soul than the system’s telling me.”
But I can’t worry about that now–I need to survive first. From the looks of it, Worth is a combination of experience and money, which means I could easily screw up a level by spending way too much of it. It also means I’m firing experience points every time I go to use a spell.
Now that’s annoying.
I zoom back out and stare at my stats. One of everything, except for the one that isn’t really a stat. Looks like my Class doesn’t give any starting bonuses, or if it does, then people can actually start with zero in a stat. Which honestly sounds kind of absurd.
Third-to-last is the skills tab. I tap over to it and the information I’d been looking for finally stares back at me.
Skills
Twisting Fate: Gambler Class skill.
High Stakes: Gambler Class skill.
Further skills unlocked by acquiring them from quests, shops, rewards, or by reaching specific stat thresholds.