XP awarded for defeating [Bandit, Lv 16]: + 600. Additional XP has been awarded for defeating an enemy more than five levels above you.
XP awarded for defeating [Robber, Lv 18]: + 870. Additional XP has been awarded for defeating an enemy more than five levels above you.
You are ready to level up! Level Up: Y/N
I was sitting on the forest floor, head still spinning. If you had asked me right then who I was and where I was I think I’d have probably replied “huh”. I was slowly coming to my senses and the scene before me just didn’t make any sense. I was sat, wearing some stranger’s clothes, covered in blood and two men were lying dead around me. This sort of thing didn’t happen to princesses, this sort of thing didn’t happen to me, and I most certainly didn’t happen to other people. Yet here I was, my system incessantly chiming about levelling up.
You are ready to level up! Level Up: Y/N
Levelling up now would be a really good idea.
Ok that was really weird. I think I possibly took a blow to the head or the after effects of what just happened meant I had started to hallucinate, or lose my grip on sanity. It didn’t matter anyway, sanity seemed of limited appeal right now. Hells, I thought, I may as well level up, perhaps I’d get a point or two of wisdom and suddenly be able to make sense of all this.
System Information:
Congratulations you have reached Level 10.
HP + 12 (HP: 34/102)
Mana + 5 (Mana: 15/20)
Stamina + 10 (Stamina: 30/40)
Strength + 6, Dexterity + 1, Intelligence + 1, Wisdom + 3, Luck + 2.
Ok that was a massive jump in HP, Stamina and Strength and my Luck had levelled up - that had never levelled before. I was just about to try and think about this when something really strange happened.
System Notification!
Special Conditions Met. Class Set Change Possible.
You have met the conditions required to change class set. Please select from the following options:
Available Class Sets
1. Royalty
2. Outlaw
3. Berserker
4. Explorer
To find out more information about each class set please make a system enquiry.
Time Class Change options will be available: 1 hour
Fuck. There was no other word for it, I’d never heard of anyone ever changing class set before, I didn’t even know it was possible, everything I had ever been taught had said that your class set was an immutable part of who you were, something decided by the gods before you were even born. Yes classes evolved as you learnt more about yourself and your character: a shopkeeper could become a merchant and possibly even a merchant venturer, a blacksmith could become a goldsmith or he could become a master armourer; but to change your class set entirely? That I had never heard of. Yet here I was being offered a choice. This was everything I had prayed for - in less than an hour my character sheet wouldn’t say princess on it. I could truly, actually, escape.
Whatever insanity had gripped me fell away with the shock of what was happening now and I focused immediately on making the most of the hour I had to make the most important decision of my life. I was immediately struck that the class sets I was being offered were all well something to do with fighting, except possibly [Explorer] - no [Clerk] or [Linguist] or [Bookkeeper] class set was being offered to me. The circumstances that let me change class must be related to the violence I had just committed. That would make it interesting trying to make a living but that was a later problem. Turning to the one in front of me right now I asked my system to provide me with more information on each of the classes.
Class Set [Royalty]: you are a member of the Triestian Royal Family. You have been afforded every advantage in life and equipped with the skills to ensure you keep them if you have your wits about you. You can become a beloved ruler, a feared tyrant or a useless layabout. Starting class: [Minor Royalty]. Improved development of Intelligence and Wisdom. Restricted development of Strength, Dexterity, Stamina and Mana.
Ok yep I knew all about what being a royal was, thank you very much system.
Class Set [Outlaw]: everyone falls on hard times. The important thing is how we choose to deal with them. Unfortunately you’ve chosen to rob and murder your way to your next meal. Hey, no judgement everyone’s got to eat right. You could stay a low life, hone your skills and become a famous thief or feared assassin, you might dominate your fellow miscreants and become a bandit chief or one of your ‘friends’ could stab you in the back. Starting class: [Bandit]. Improved development of Strength, Dexterity and Stamina. Restricted development of Intelligence, Wisdom and Mana.
Class Set [Berserker]: when the going gets tough you get suicidally violent. Harness your rage and become an unstoppable force. There’s nothing intrinsically bad about you but you are unpredictable and, whether by predilection or lack of self-control, inclined to violence. Master your anger and become an elite and terrifying fighter, surrender to it and become a thing of the wild. Starting class: [Brute]. Greatly improved development of Strength and Stamina. Restricted development of all other attributes and Mana.
Class Set [Explorer]: You’re treading new ground both literally and figuratively; you tread lightly but see deeply. Strike out into the wild and become a hunter or a ranger or stay part of civilisation; your skills will always be in demand somewhere, whether it’s eyes on a rival or lover or as a map maker or explorer. Starting class: [Scout]. Slightly improved development of Dexterity and Wisdom. Restricted development of Mana. Increased availability of skill slots.
There went my dreams of being a mage. Oh well, but to be honest it wasn’t much of a choice. I wasn't going to be a Berserker, what I had just done I had no intention of ever doing again, and I certainly wasn’t going to be an Outlaw. I would never, as long as I live, end up like the two corpses now lying at my feet. So that really only left the one choice. Explorer it was. I had no idea what the process for changing class sets was so I just thought very hard that I would like to be an Explorer please and that seemed to do the trick.
Class Set Change!
Class [Minor Royalty] is replaced by Class [Scout]. Skills have been retained. Skills have been lost. Skills are available.
I didn’t feel any different, I had expected something to feel different. I checked my character sheet and my jaw dropped. Something was different alright.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race
Class:
Neesh
14
Ambiguous
(the enquirer will see what they expect)
Human
Scout
Title:
Attributes:
Condition:
Character:
Alignments:
n/a
160cm
55kg
Shoe Size 5
Blood: Type O
[Could be better] no boosts or faults apply
Dominant traits:
Fair minded
Stubborn
Survivor
Ethics: 63/100
Order: 35/100
Selflessness: 55/100
Level:
HP:
Mana:
Stamina:
Regen Rates
10
(1315 XP to LvUP)
34/102
15/20
30/40
HP: 1pt/hour
Mana: 1pt/hour
Stamina: 1pt/min
Strength:
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Dexterity:
Intelligence:
Wisdom:
Luck:
14
11
14
11
17
A new road lies before you. Time to see where it might lead
Skills (9 max)
Skill LV
Rarity
Description
Requirements
Literacy
10
Uncommon
You can read and write, that’s not as common as we’d like
Reading checks: +10
Intelligence >10
Numeracy
15
Rare
You have been taught actual mathematics rather than adding plus you’re a bit of a whizz at it
Mathematics Checks: + 15
Intelligence >10
Archery
7
Common
You can shoot straight, on a calm day
Equip: Short Bows, Composite Bows, Small Crossbows, Quiver
Accuracy Checks: +3
Damage: + 2
Strength > 5
Stamina 1/shot
Must have weapon and ammunition in inventory
Linguist
12
Rare
You can argue with even more people you meet
Language Checks: + 12
Intelligence > 9
Luck > 10
Ok so my name was now Neesh and I was of ambiguous gender. I guess I was filthy, wearing men’s clothing and my shoulder length hair was a length and cut popular with both genders. That still freaked me out a bit though, especially the bit about other people seeing what they expect. Still it all worked to my advantage in terms of being found out. Ok it wasn't a massive leap from Neesh to Neesha but if everyone saw Neesh the teenage boy rather than Neesha the teenage girl, well that could only be a good thing; at least for now.
Plus I had five available skill slots and new skills to fill them with. That was pretty exciting, maybe not as exciting as seeing embroidery had disappeared but it was close. I made another system enquiry and pulled up my new skills list. For the first time in my life no one was telling me what skills I could or couldn’t pick and I was determined to make the most of it. Unlike classes my system, and apparently everyone else’s, didn’t give a description of the skill before you chose it you just had to guess from the name. Still most were pretty obvious. I thought about seeing my available skills and my system duly imprinted a mental list on my mind.
Available skills. Sort [A to Z]
Acrobatics
Dowsing
Hunting
Fade
First Aid
Foraging
Forest Lore
Keen Eyesight
Melee Weapons Proficiency [Basic]
Music [Beginner]
Pickpocketing
Sharp Hearing
Sneak
Storyteller
Swimming
Tracking
Underhand Blow
Wayfinding
Well after today I thought I definitely needed to know how to use a weapon properly, so that was one of the five done. There were some I thought I could easily rule out: pickpocketing, if I wasn’t going to be a bandit I wasn’t going to be a cut purse either, and Forest Lore, I was heading to the city after all. Hunting was something I wanted for myself, plus it might make the journey to Malin a bit easier, and wayfinding sounded useful given I’d spent the last four days guessing and hoping I knew where I was and where I was going. As for the other two skills, well I thought it was a choice between keen eyesight, sharp hearing, sneak and tracking.
Now I reckoned I had heard those two bandits coming so I probably could get by on my natural hearing and likewise I thought for my eyesight whereas if I could have snuck away I might have avoided all this in the first place (and the chance now to get the sneak skill) whilst tracking, it just seemed right from the class set description. So with those decisions made I selected those skills had took a look at my new character sheet.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race
Class:
Neesh
14
Ambiguous
(the enquirer will see what they expect)
Human
Scout
Title:
Attributes:
Condition:
Character:
Alignments:
n/a
160cm
55kg
Shoe Size 5
Blood: Type O
[Could be better] no boosts or faults apply
Dominant traits:
Fair minded
Stubborn
Survivor
Ethics: 63/100
Order: 35/100
Selflessness: 55/100
Level:
HP:
Mana:
Stamina:
Regen Rates
10
(1315 XP to LvUP)
34/102
15/20
30/40
HP: 1pt/sec
Mana: 1pt/hour
Stamina: 1pt/min
Strength:
Dexterity:
Intelligence:
Wisdom:
Luck:
14
11
14
11
17
A new road lies before you. Time to see where it might lead
Skills (9 max)
Skill LV
Rarity
Description
Requirements
Literacy
10
Uncommon
You can read and write, that’s not as common as we’d like
Reading checks: +10
Intelligence >10
Numeracy
15
Rare
You have been taught actual mathematics rather than adding plus you’re a bit of a whizz at it
Mathematics Checks: + 15
Intelligence >10
Archery
7
Common
You can shoot straight, on a calm day
Equip: Short Bows, Composite Bows, Small Crossbows, Quiver
Accuracy Checks: +3
Damage: + 2
Strength > 5
Stamina 1/shot
Must have weapon and ammunition in inventory
Linguist
12
Rare
You can argue with even more people you meet
Language Checks: + 12
Intelligence > 9
Luck > 10
Melee Weapons [Basic]
1
Common
You know which end is the pointy end.
Equip: Knives, Short Swords, Clubs
Damage: +0
Strength > 10
Must have weapon in inventory
Wayfinding
1
Rare
You know where you are and where you’re going
Orientation Checks: + 4
Wisdom > 10
Intelligence >12
Hunting
1
Common
It’s eat or be eaten sometimes and you’re determined not to be lunch.
Damage: x2 damage vs animals
Stealth Checks: +2 vs animals
Ranged Weapon must be equipped.
Dexterity > 10
Sneak
1
Rare
You can move silently, like a shadow. Just try not to sneeze.
Stealth Checks: +3
Dexterity > 10
Tracking
1
Rare
You know how to follow your nose. Just try not to sniff out trouble.
Find Checks: +4
Intelligence > 12
Wisdom >10
So that was it, I was now Neesh the Scout. I got up and started heading towards Malin.