Ch 4 Training Wheels
OK so start thinking of new enchantments. What do people use in daily life? eat or should I sell my enchantment on things? Can I put multiple enchantments on something? I guess that will be the first test. I need to learn how to stitch and carve. Be able to put things on clothes, wood and metal, anything else? Leather, for armor. People will go into dungeons, needing to wait for daylight to try the terminal again. Less chance of people being wary.
How about something silly? If ii put pristine on my shirt, would I ever change shirts again? Better make a shirt, it’s a good shirt, not a t-shirt. Maybe a nice polo. What about the color? Wait, what if I could change the color at any time? Okay new enchantment will be color changing, all the vanity is needed. I sit at my desk and grab more paper. Staring, do I really need to use the whole sheet? I tear of a square roughly the size I need. Ragged edges I can deal with. Starting with the square I'm rapidly becoming used to. What makes me think about color? A rainbow, of course. I scribble a little rainbow in black. Need to make sure all the enchantments are in black and white. Well two-tone, otherwise id never be able to repeat them in other medium.
Still looks like a child's drawing. Can't say I've ever been good at drawing. Or coloring, or painting. The only hobbies I ever picked up were something that gave practical use at the end. I can sew and knit. Sort of. I can do the basics well enough to repair something while sewing and I once made two scarves while knitting. Moving on.
Checking the time, it's almost 7am. I don’t have to work until 3pm today. Would the dungeon be busy this early? Would I be able to go? Maybe I should check my spells? Wait, I have spells and I never practiced, shit. I forgot them. I call “Skills”
Skill
Level
Enchant
1
Create Incomprehensible Language
1
Organized Thoughts
1
Inventory
1
Optimal Repose
1
Teleport
1
Heal-Self
1
Can I select enchant? Do I have any experience for it? Selecting it I check.
Skill
Lvl
Experience Gain
Enchant
1
46%
Shit, that’s a lot. Is it because I'm writing new ones? Ok yeah, I'm not even going to try and figure that out. I'm halfway to lvl 2 though, so I should probably get something to start stitching.
Okay new skills. What's the limit of self-heal? I go to the kitchen and grab the sharpest blade I find. I think it’s a paring knife. I’m going to regret this I just know it. I lay my left arm on the desk and take the knife to the back of my forearm, so it won't get in the way and shouldn’t get hit by anything. I slice shallow. It barely bleeds. Shit I'm not going to cry, I'm always a wimp to pain. Ok that’s done, I check the time. 7.13a. I just need to see how long this takes, usually something like this would be maybe three days. I watched it for a moment, it had already stopped beading blood. I wipe the knife and set it down.
I stand up and I look around the room. There's no space ok. I go to the bedroom. My bed is tall enough to not need a box spring or frame, so it sits on the floor, since it takes up most of the room this is fine usually. I grabbed the pillow off and picked the mattress up. Leaning the mattress against the wall. Now I have six clear feet. I kick aside a couple things, not sure how long they’ve been under the bed. Clear floor space, standing at one end of the room I focus on the other end. Ok how to teleport. “TELEPORT!” yeah that did nothing. Maybe the harry potter approach, what was it, destination determination? I focus again. Imagining myself at the other end of the room. Picturing myself appearing there. Still nothing. Ok. New approach. Star trek. Dematerializing in one place and materializing in another. I think about the transporter in my head and about how the controls looked. I picture the panel in my head and set the destination across the room from me. Suddenly I stumbled, reeling. What happened? I turn and look. I'm not across the room, but about two feet from where I was. Well star trek worked then. I can teleport. Too bad I moved two feet. I suppose if I get it down fast enough, I can use it in a fight? I go to the other end of the room. This time facing the wall. Let's see if its line of sight only, that would be very important. I imagine myself two feet back from where I was. Imaging the star trek control panel once more the destination set. Again, I stumble. I'm less than a foot from the wall this time. What was the difference? Why am I exhausted? Shit I think I might blackout . . .
*****
Blinking my eyes open I try to sit up. Something is on me. I shift my arms and shove. Whatever it is pops up and comes back down. I realize it’s the mattress, it must have fallen at some point. I turn onto my stomach and crawl from under it. Okay, what the hell happened? Think things through, I was never good at that, but Organized thoughts have been helping me keep on track. I’ve never been able to focus on this well. I teleported. Twice. Mana is a thing, that I can use. Is it finite? If it’s a resource, it should be. Am I using it? Likely. Shit am I running out of mana and passing out? That’s the most likely explanation. All I've done so far was a few enchantments. Thinking back, I passed out after making two new ones and writing them out four, five times? I was using my own mana? Shit how do I tell? Is there no metric other than my body saying sleep now? Okay not allowed to teleport more than once then. So only use it as a last resort, I guess. Can mana be increased? Is that part of leveling up? Do I need to devote resources to upping my mana? Shit, I'll have to think about this. Okay, crafting is good, teleporting is not. At least I got a good sleep again. I checked the time. 9.34a. I look down at my arm. It's completely healed, nothing to show for having a line drawn earlier.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Do I really want to go to the dungeon? I need credits, I need to get more enchantments. I need more things from the store. I want to not have to work at a sandwich shop for the next 30 years. But maybe I should have something offensive as an enchantment first?
Okay, mana is a thing. Weapons are a thing, can I weaponize mana? DnD tells me yes, maybe I can't do chain lightning yet, but I could get there. Or would that be a spell? Dammit I'm not a scribe. Shit so I'd have to put it on an object. So, a ‘wand’ I can make a wand. That shoots mana. Like a gun? Or bullet? No not bullet, a bolt. A mana bolt? No, a force bolt. Okay, it should be safe to go to the terminal now. Hopefully there won't be too many people there at this time, most people will be at work, right?
As I make my way downstairs, I look and see. No one is loitering in the alleys, there's a few people at the bus stop but it looks like they are all swiping at the air. Maybe the terminal can handle multiple people? That’s good news, no waiting in line while someone shops. Or check the help guide. Need to check the help guide. Can't forget that this time. I hurried to the stop. Three guys and a woman are there. They ignore me, as I get close maybe four feet. I mutter again “interface” a screen comes up
Interface
Store
Message Board
Help Guide
Wait no, I back out. I should see if I have more credits. It's been, what? A day since the system came about?
Name
Level
Experience Gain
Credits
Arthur Turner
0
1.8%
45
Holy shit, people are buying them! Really doing it! I guess the dungeoneers? Have really needed them. Going back to the interface I go through to the enchantment store
Enchant Tools
Chisel
Gouge
Skiver knife
Pen
Veiner
Swivel knife
Welt knife
Paring knife
Channel knife
I selected chisel, that seems basic enough for a wand?
Item
Description
Cost
Chisel
Cutting tool with sharpened edge
2
Okay I selected it.
Purchase complete
Your charge
2 Credits
Okay now where is it? Not in my hand. I'm not wearing a backpack. I check the ground around me. Shit, did I just waste credits? How do I get shit?
I'm a dumbass who forgot he has an inventory again. “Inventory” A window pops into view.
Chisel
Okay how many slots do I have? I'll have to figure that out later. I'm not carrying anything, and I don’t want to make others aware of my inventory so I'm just going to leave that where it is. I went back to the store.
I select weapons.
Weapon
Axe
Spear
Bow
Sword
Knives
Hammer
Okay what should I pick? Maybe a knife? Or should I go and try to make a wand? I have my k-bar for a knife but no telling if these are any better. I'll stick with my k-bar. I go back to armor, that I can always use
Armor
Light
Medium
Heavy
That explains nothing. I select medium, hoping for something useful. Leather counts as medium, right?
Head
Feet
Face
Torso
Arms
Chest
Back
Hands
Legs
Okay, a little more complicated than I thought. If I want to protect the most part of me, I should go with chest, right? Or back? Let's do chest first.
Hide
Scale
Chain
Half-Plate
No leather? Wait is hide leather? Crap. I don’t know. I selected hide.
Chest
Description
Cost
Hide
Crude armor of pelt and fur
10
Crude? Shit, maybe I should check the chain?
Chest
Description
Cost
Chain
Interlocking metal rings
10
That sounds better. I should have googled more before coming. I select the chain for chest with luck it’s a shirt and not just front. I glance around two of the men were gone but the other two people were still there. Okay 35 credits left. Not sure what else I can wear. So, I'll stick with just this for now. Going back through to the main section of the interface. “Help guide”
Questions
Comments
Concerns
Input
I shouldn’t have expected better. As helpful as the system has been. The input lets us ask a question which is helpful, but I need to think of something to ask. Maybe about my skills? Or the dungeons? Or human leveling? Shit too many things to ask. Screw it, ask the best question I can.
Input
Is the system going to end the world?
Nothing happens for a moment. Then.
Output
The system cannot, humans can.
That’s comforting, as always humans have the ability for destruction, but the system might enable us to do it faster. Okay time to hit a craft store.