Unexpectedly, he opened his eyes.

Lucas knew any chance of survival was unlikely, but he felt better. The oppressive burning was gone, although he still felt the raw scraping of flesh from the dagger wound. He pushed himself up and felt the sharp ground dig into his hands. As he raised his head, all he saw was an angry landscape of obsidian. Ominous spires dotted the land, ending in sharp points that radiated malice. A hateful red glow permeated everything.

The fuzz around his vision intensified, an almost tangible thing. He looked behind him, but the portal had vanished into mist. He blinked, and the fuzz did solidify.

ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!

It flashed into view with an angry blaring, fading in and out of view worryingly.

Registering foreign user. New Plane not in database. Contacting Gods...

No Gods available... Resolving Conflict.

It flickered out of view then, leaving a fretting Lucas wondering about Gods and what it meant if they were all busy, or worse, gone.

Welcome to Ceravelis, traveler! You may be new to the System, please give it a few moments to acclimate to you.

You are now in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Balingia and therefore under their laws. Meet with the nearest Lord, [ERROR], to register.

Two of the new windows battled for his attention, and it killed his hopes for any other humans near him. Either this Grand Duchy was fallen, or he was so far away from civilization there wasn't a Lord close enough to be perceived.

They vanished as soon as he finished reading, so it clearly had some sort of capability to track his eyes or read his mind. That was a sobering thought. A new one appeared after about a minute, much larger than the others.

Name: Lucas M. Williams Level: 1 Titles: Godfavored, Enemy, Otherworlder, Followed, Fighter, Fighter II Race: Human [F] Traits: Traveler, Godtouched, Godtouched II, Godtouched III, Ruinmarked, Otherplanar, Pyrophobia Condition: [Burned], [Mana-Starved] Class [Tier 1]: N/A Profession: N/A Sub-Class: N/A Sub-Profession: N/A

Strength: 29 Intelligence: 13 Agility: 30 Perception: 31 Dexterity: 35 Will: 32 Vitality: 28 Charisma: 8 Endurance: 32 Magic: 75

Lucas was startled. Was this what it meant by the System? It looked like a video game, almost. He had so many questions. What was a tier one class? How did he get one? Why were some of his stats so jacked up compared to others? Were those stats normal? What were all of the titles and traits? He wet his lips and nervously stuttered out "M-menu"

Status Attributes Skills [Locked] Achievements Faction [Locked] Equipment [Locked] Spells [Locked] Affinities [Locked]

Locked? He hesitantly tried tapping them, one after another.

[Locked]! Please Awaken a Class before accessing.

[Locked]! Please Register with a Faction or Establish your own before accessing.

[Locked]! Please Enounter or Forge a [System Item] before accessing.

[Locked]! Please Develop a Spell Weave before accessing.

[Locked]! Please Awaken a Caster Class before accessing.

Lucas's curiosity was sated about them. They required certain Achievements before being unlocked. Although, it was bad that more than half of his Menu was locked. Hesitantly, he brought his attention to his Status, pressing them in order.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Godfavored [Unique]: Acquire the Godtouched Title twice or more. Broadens Class Options.

Enemy [Legendary]: Be Declared an Enemy of the False God! Restricts Class Options. Broadens Class Options. Lowers [Reputation] with all [Human Factions] that Worship the False God to [Disliked], and with the [Church] to [Hated].

Otherworlder [Legendary]: A Title given by Jarrel, God of Travelers and Planes. Spread your ideals and culture, One from Far-Away. Broadens Class Options. Sets [Reputation] with all [Bard Classes] to [Interested].

Followed [Legendary]: The Goddess of Secrets and Madness has taken an Interest in you. Broadens Class Options. Blocks [Divination] Magic.

Fighter [Epic]: Fight a Monster before gaining a Class. Broadens Class Options. Raises the Rarity of all [Common] Class options to [Uncommon].

Fighter II [Legendary]: Fight a Monster before entering the System! Broadens Class Options. Raises the Rarity of all [Common] Classes to [Rare].

Human [F]: The base Human template. Broadens Evolution Pathways.

Traveler [Uncommon]: Travel to a Land outside of your home. Grants the [Map] Skill. Grants the [Compass] Skill.

Godtouched [Legendary]: Snatch a Spark of Power from one of the False God's [Prophets]! +15 Magic. Grants the [Enemy] Title. Grants the [Sight] Skill.

Godtouched II [Legendary]: Stoke a Spark of Power from a Portal. +15 Magic. Grants the [Otherworlder] Title. Grants the [Gateway] Skill.

Godtouched III [Legendary]: Attract a Spark of Power from Madness. +15 Magic. Grants the [Followed] Title. Grants the [Dark Murmurs] Skill.

Ruinmarked [Unique]: Recieve a Spark of Ruin. Cause Change, o' Executioner of Chaos. +20 Magic, Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Vitality, Endurance, Perception, and Will. Heavily Restricts Class Options.

Otherplanar [Rare]: Arrive at Ceravelis from another Plane. Unlocks [Planar Affinity].

Pyrophobia [Rare]: Sustain [Severe] burns from a Fire Sprite. Deal 4x Critical Hits to Fire-Aspected Humanoids and Monsters.

Strength: A measure of a Humanoid's ability to exert force on the world around it.

Agility: A measure of a Humanoid's grace and speed.

Dexterity: A measure of a Humanoid's ability with its hands. Applies to both Class and Profession.

Vitality: A measure of a Humanoid's inner life.

Endurance: A measure of a Humanoid's toughness and stamina.

Intelligence: A measure of a Humanoid's ability to memorize and calculate.

Perception: A measure of a Humanoid's ability to sense the world around them.

Will: A measure of a Humanoid's ability to keep focus and commitment.

Charisma: A measure of a Humanoid's Force of Personality.

Magic: A measure of a Humanoid's Arcane Potential. This could go somewhere...

Lucas also opened up the Achievements Menu, but it was empty at the moment. Perhaps it didn't register anything he did before integration as an achievement? Maybe he was outside of its sight? There were a lot of 'maybes' and not nearly not enough certainties. Why was the Magic description different from the others? Why could it grant him skills when he doesn't have a class? Are they active even though he can't access that menu? Were the hallucinatory whispers part of the [Dark Murmurs] skill? Did that mean these gods leaked through into his world and that's why the... Fire Sprites(?) got into his apartment building, along with some kind of Prophet? His train of thought was derailed by the crunch of broken glass under something's feet, and his head jerked up, scanning the horizon for anything that could have caused that sound. For some reason, Lucas felt that he wasn't quite alone out here.