“I’m pretty sure I’d prefer to be a Magi,” I told them.

Azarus rolled his eyes. “Saw that one coming.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What, was I that obvious?”

“Oh, only somewhat.” Grey smiled broadly at me. “It was noticeable that you were visibly more interested in the subject when Magecraft was mentioned.”

“Thought about betting on it, but I didn’t want to lose me money on a sucker’s bet,” Azarus smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes back at him. “All right, all right. So, if I want to try and become a Magi, what sta-, I mean Virtues do I have to put points into?”

“Ah, well. The two main stats that you should be investing in are Intelligence and Wisdom. Now, that doesn't mean you should simply put five points each into either.” Grey cautioned me. “Rather, I recommend spreading a few of your points into the neutral virtues as your main.”

“Neutral Virtues?” I asked him curiously.

“Indeed. While Intelligence and Wisdom are the primary Virtues of the Magi, and Strength and Spirit are the Virtues of the Cultivator, Vitality, Dexterity and Perception are Virtues that either can take. In fact, it is highly recommended that you do so.” Grey told me.

I tapped my fingers on the table in thought. “Let’s back up a second, yeah? What do each of the Virtues actually do?”

“An excellent question, Nathan.” Grey praised me. “Let us start with Intelligence and Strength then, shall we?”

I could see Azarus cross his arms and roll his eyes again. He leaned back in his chair, visibly bored of the coming lecture. Whatever, I was interested.

“As the two primary Virtues of Magi and Cultivators, they are deemed ‘Power’ Virtues. Simply, these two Virtues determine the overall capability and power of your Spells, Arts, or Skills. Additionally, they enhance you physically. For Strength, it is rather obvious. The Virtue increases your physical ability, leading to greater bodily might. On the other hand, Intelligence enhances you mentally. Progressively higher levels of Magecraft require greater mental ability and flexibility in order to accomplish them. Quite simply, if your Intelligence score is too low, you will be unable to mentally visualize the thought forms required.” Grey explained patiently.

“Huh,” I said. “So, Intelligence makes you smarter and Strength makes you swole. What about Wisdom and Spirit?”

Grey cocked an eyebrow at me while Azarus screwed up his face in confusion.

“What the bleeding hell is ‘swole’?” He muttered to himself

I restrained a smirk.

Grey let it pass without comment. “Wisdom and Spirit are termed as ‘Well’ Virtues. Vitality is included in the category.” He told me. “Wisdom increases the pool of Mana that you can draw from, while Spirit does the same for Ki. There are some esoteric side effects to increasing your Wisdom or Spirit values as well, but that will not be relevant to you for quite some time indeed.”

“And Vitality? You said that was a ‘Well’ Virtue as well.” I asked Grey.

“Hmm, how to put this,” Grey said thoughtfully. “You have noticed that both your Status and the Observe Skill track what is termed as ‘HP’, correct?” At my nod, he continued. “The abbreviation is short for ‘Health Points’-”

One hundred percent just an RPG term, as I thought.

“-but what is ‘Health’, in the context of the System?” Grey asked me.

Oh, he wanted an actual answer. “Uh, I’m guessing how much damage you can take before you cark it?”

“Yes, but how?” Grey coaxed me patiently. “How does the System measure something as nebulous as overall health? Why does one’s ‘Health Points’ only diminish from a direct attack, but not from illness, or overall age? How can it be that when an elderly person passes peacefully in their bed, surrounded by family members, their HP has not diminished until the very moment of death?”

“Well, that’s all news to me. Interesting news, but still news.” I said to him, nonplussed.

Grey paused for a moment in realization. “Ah, forgive me, Nathan. I’m simply too used to giving this lecture to, ah, ‘regular’ students. The answer is that what the System is measuring as ‘Health’, is ones Vitality. Vitality is the Virtue that determines ones HP. The greater the amount of Vitality, the larger your pool of HP and the more damage you can take in battle before you ‘cark’ it, as you so eloquently put it.”

“Well, okay. But that doesn’t actually answer the question of what System is tracking as ‘Health’ for ‘Health Points.” I said to Grey.

He beamed at me. “We don’t know!” He said cheerfully.

I stared at him blankly. “You…don’t know?”

“Oh, indeed. Even with centuries and centuries of testing and hypothesizing. With the libraries of books that have been written on the subject. Make no mistake, there are many things we simply cannot say for certain in regard to the System, even something as foundational as the intricacies of one of the Virtues. Isn’t it exciting?!” Grey told me animatedly.

I cut my eyes to Azarus for a moment. He shrugged at me. I looked back at Grey.

“You don’t have theories about it?” I asked him skeptically.

Grey waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, of course, there are theories. There are dozens and dozens of them! Everything ranging from ‘Vitality is the Virtue of the Soul’, to ‘Vitality is a measure of how much time you have left to live’. Why, I even heard a theory once about how it’s a measure of a secret barrier we all have that deflects damage.” He wiggled his fingers at me in a ‘spooky’ manner and laughed. Putting his hands down and clearing his throat, he continued. “Truly, we don’t know for certain. If anyone attempts to say what it is that Vitality is affecting with certainty, they’re a charlatan. We only know the practical effects. More Vitality equals more HP equals it’s harder for you to die in combat.”

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“Uh, alright then,” I said, at a loss. I shook my head slightly to reorient myself. “And the last two? Perception and Dexterity, right?”

“Mmm, yes. The least common of the Virtues.” Grey nodded. “Perception and Dexterity are, at best, considered secondary. They can be invested in by either Magi or Cultivators, but neither is advised to invest too heavily. They simply do not give enough of an advantage.”

“Alright, but what do they do then?” I asked him.

“Perception affects the senses,” Grey explained to me patiently. “It enhances them with every point invested. Sight, sound, hearing, smell. Even your senses of taste and touch are enhanced by perception. At least, to a degree. On the other hand, Dexterity increases your reaction speed and physical acuity. A person that has invested in Dexterity will find that they are quicker to react in combat and able to control themselves bodily in a more precise manner. These two are often termed ‘Defense’ Virtues. Indeed, you could consider Perception as a form of active defense, and Dexterity as a reactive defense.”

I absorbed what he had told me in silence for a moment. After a bit, I spoke back up. “Alright, so I guess I invest most of my points into Intelligence and Wisdom and then spread the rest around between Vitality, Perception, and Dexterity?” I asked Grey.

He nodded at me. “Indeed.”

When he didn’t elaborate any further, I looked at him confusedly. I glanced at Azarus as well, only to see him raise an eyebrow at me silently. I looked back at Grey. “And that’s it?”

Grey shrugged at me. “What else could there be? Allocate your Virtue points as you see fit, now that you are aware of their function.” He sighed. “Ultimately Nathan, I cannot make decisions for you on your specialty. I can only educate you. It’s considered somewhat of a faux pas to dictate to another how they build themselves.”

I flushed slightly. “Uh, alright. I’ll just…do that then.”

Picking up the mirror that I had brought in from the forge, I focused on it and brought up my Status. Touching the surface of the mirror so that it focused on my Virtues, I could see that next to them each had a small plus sign next to them. After Grey’s explanation, I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to distribute my points. Fiddling with the mirror, I did so. When I was done, I looked at my decision.

Name Nathaniel Eugene Hart Titles N/A Level 5 Age 24 Sol Race Human (Precursor) Affinity Terrestrial Classes N/A Professions Material Enchantment, Mechanical Engineering, Blacksmithing, Medicinal Alchemy, Surgery Health 240/240 Stamina 100/100 Vitality 14 Strength 10 Spirit 10 Dexterity 18 Perception 14 Intelligence 22 Wisdom 22 Free Points 0 Options Talent Page, Skill Page, Professions Page

When I used all of my free points, a new blue dialogue box popped up.

Would you like to commit to these Virtues? Y/N

I mentally selected yes. In the end, of the forty points I’d gotten from four level up’s, I’d decided to put twelve points into intelligence and wisdom both, eight points into Dexterity, and finally four points into Vitality and Perception each. That sounded like a Mage build to me.

When I finished, I looked back up at Grey and Azarus. I nodded at them. “Well, I’m done.”

Grey met my eyes and nodded back at me. “So you are.”

Azarus clapped his hands together. I jumped.

“Well, now that that’s over with.” He said cheerfully. “Probably time for us to hit the hay. Got more stuff to do tomorrow.”

“In-” Grey interrupted himself with a yawn. “Indeed. It’s been a long day for us all. Time for some rest.”

Azarus stood up from the table and I followed suit.

“Goodnight, gentlemen,” Grey said to both of us. “I’ll see you in the morn.” He wheeled out of the room towards his room by the stairs. After a moment, I could hear his door open and shut.

I looked at Azarus and then down at the plates that all of us had left from dinner. “We just going to leave them, or…?”

Azarus waved dismissively with a grunt. “Deal with it tomorrow. G’night.” He left the kitchen as well, tromping up the stairs to the master bedroom.

I sighed. I spent a few moments picking up the dirty plates and utensils on the table before putting them in the washbasin that was sitting in the corner of the room. Exiting the kitchen myself, I headed up the stairs as well and entered the room that had been given to me. Kicking my shoes and pants off, I sat on the edge of the bed. Leaning over to put my face in my hands, I groaned quietly.

God, what a day.

It didn’t feel like it, but only this morning I’d gotten another Profession in Surgery. We’d almost immediately left after that to the forest. We must have been in there all afternoon. I was exhausted in a way that I hadn’t been in a very long time. Not since…

Well, at least this was a good exhausted. I slipped under the covers and lay my head down. Despite my still unfamiliar surroundings, I fell asleep near immediately.

……………………………………...

The screech of tires.

Flames.

A man and a woman screaming in agony.

Beeping.

Sobbing.

Oppressive silence.

Steel on steel.

A whooshing noise, and then screaming.

Hooves pounding in the dirt.

The crack of a whip.

A horrible smile.

A finger lifting my chin.

“You want to know why?”

……………………………………...

I jerked awake with a strangled cry. Sitting upright violently I stared off into space with a blank, unseeing stare. Slowly, I started to be able to focus. I was hyperventilating and soaked in sweat, even though I had just woken up. I slowly put my head down in my hands and struggled to hold tears back.

God.

That had been similar, but it wasn’t the same. I hadn’t had that nightmare in some time, but it was different this time. Longer.

That only made it worse.

Please, please don’t let those start up again. I don’t know if I can take my nightmares coming back on top of everything else that was happening to me now. I didn’t need that on top of being on a magic alien planet.

Gradually, I was able to get ahold of myself. Raising my head and rubbing my eyes, I glanced at the window. At the very least, it looked like I had gotten enough sleep. It was clearly morning. I lay back down for a moment with a sigh.

I let myself gaze blankly at the ceiling for a few more moments. Before long, I leveraged myself back up into a seating position and swung my legs off of the bed with a grunt. I picked out a different set of clothes that Azarus had left for me in the dresser. Still looked the same though.

I opened the door to my room and stepped out. Before closing the door, I paused and looked back at the bed.

I shuddered slightly, and closed the door behind me.