'Dammit!'

I grumble as I spit out a mouthful of grainy sand while the warm air washes over me, prickling my skin. What the hell happened? A moment ago, I was sitting on my bed, wondering what I wanted to do tomorrow. I choke and cough as I try to force the rest of the sand out of my throat. Damn! My eyes are hurting from closing them so tightly. I can feel the grains embedded in my eyelids as I reach up to wipe them clean.

'Let me help. My name's Sarah.'

My head swivels towards the feminine voice as I nod my head. A soft hand takes hold of my arm and helps me to my feet. I wish I could thank her, but my mouth and throat won't work. I guess it can wait till after she helps me.

'Kneel here. There's water just in front of you. Be sure to cup your hands. Don't worry. It's safe to wash your mouth out with.' Sarah says as I feel her stop walking.

I nod my head again as I follow her advice. The water is cold and ripples over my hands in small waves. How did I end up on a beach? Wait. Why can't I smell salt in the air if I'm on a beach? A shiver runs through my body as I splash my face. Relief washes over me as I finally open my eyes to blaring sunlight. Forget it. I've no idea what's happening, but I need to clean my mouth first.

I hesitate as I bring my cupped hands up to my mouth. A great sea sprawls before me with no indication of land on the horizon. Can I even call this a sea? I notice that my eyes don't sting from the salt that should be in the water. I can think about that later. I swirl the chilly water around my mouth several times before spitting it out. I sigh as I realise there's no taste of salt either.

Screw it. I quickly swallow several mouthfuls as I look around. The woman next to me must be Sarah since she's watching me closely with a concerned expression. Pale skin, dotted with a few freckles. Dark brown hair and green eyes. That's when I realise she is only wearing a few strips of cloth as a bra and underwear!

"Sorry!" I yelp as I quickly avert my gaze. Suddenly, my face feels warm, and I curse as I realise I must be blushing. Seriously. Why did evolution think blushing was a necessary feature for humans to have? Or God. Or whatever anyone believes in, for that matter.

"Don't worry about it," Sarah says as I hear her sigh. "We're all in the same boat."

My mind goes blank as I digest those words. I rapidly glance down to see rough cloth underwear wrapped around my nether regions. Where the fuck are my boxer shorts? I start imagining some creep stripping off my clothes before putting these horrendously uncomfortable pants on me. My stomach turns at the thought before I push the idea deep down and lock it away.

'Status! Stats! Inventory! Map! Menu!'

Who's that idiot? I frown as my attention falls on the skinny guy pacing around, shouting nonsense. Oh! There are ten of us on the strange beach wearing the same underwear. That's good to know.

'Hey. You ok?' Sarah asks as she crouches down into my sight.

'Yeah, sorry. Just a bit confused.' I pause as I quickly glance over the small group. 'Thanks for your help. I'm Richard, but I prefer Rick. What's going on here?'

'No clue.' Sarah replies as she sighs while running a hand through her thick hair. 'I don't think the others know anything either, judging by the confused looks on their faces.'

'What about that guy?' I ask while nodding in the direction of the skinny guy still shouting.

'Dunno. Maybe he's crazy.' Sarah shrugs while glancing at the guy.

I don't know what to think. Ten strangers randomly appeared on a beach together, wearing nothing but underwear. There's a freshwater sea and a forest on the beach's edge. I groan as the heat from the sun presses down on me. Where am I? There's no beach like this anywhere near where I live.

'Guys!' The scrawny guy from before shouts as he races toward us while gesturing for us to come to him. 'I found something!'

Hopefully, he's found an answer to our questions. Sarah and I walk side by side to him. The entire group is nervously eyeing the forest, where we hear the odd animal sound. I can't explain why, but those sounds give me chills.

'Ok, I'm Kyle.' He begins as he waves nervously. I frown because it's obvious he's not used to social speaking. 'I have a few ideas about what's going on here. But I think it's best if you all see this first! Come on.'

He leads us to a patch of sand where his pacing has uncovered a piece of smooth stone. What the hell am I looking at? There are lines in it that look unnatural. As if someone carved them. However, they're entirely smooth. They were definitely made with some form of advanced tool.

'It's part of something bigger.' Kyle says as he bounces on his heels. Great! Glad to see someone is enjoying themselves. I sigh as we wait for him to continue. 'I need everyone's help to uncover it. We need to brush the sand away with our hands.'

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

Kyle glanced around our group with a hopeful expression, but everyone looked away when his gaze landed on them. Of course, I was oblivious to this as I thought over what I saw. My eyes meet his before I realise he is looking for volunteers to help him. I groan as I notice everyone else is looking at me.

What the hell? If it helps me understand what's going on, I'm game. I give him a nod before getting down on my knees and start shifting the sand around. Moments later, Kyle joins me, and so do the others. It's tedious work, but at least we're doing something.

Bit by bit, we uncover large swathes of the strange stone. I soon realise when we unveil parts of its edge that it's a circular slab. Excitement rises in me as I glance at the others. Everyone is working faster as we realise we must have found something important!

Eventually, we clear the stone circle, and Kyle bounces around like a kid with too much sugar in them. I frown as I look over the strange lines that connect ten smaller circles around the edge of the slab. Embedded in the centre of the impossibly smooth stone is a blue gem. I've never seen anything like it. As I focus on it, I feel calm, which worries me. I shake my head with a frown to dispel the strange sensation invading my mind.

'This can't be a coincidence!' Kyle chuckles as he studies the lines. 'There's ten of us and ten of these circles. I think each of us has to stand in one! Come on! Pick a circle!'

I can see the hesitation in everyone's eyes. I don't blame them since I feel the same way. There's something alien about what we have uncovered. Especially the way the gem influences my emotions. I look at Sarah, who flashes a grim smile before stepping into the circle in front of us.

I can only sigh at her courage before walking to the one to her left. A faint breeze that carries a slight chill blows over us as we wait to see if the others will join us. One by one, the others slowly take their places. It's only now that I realise our group is split evenly. Five men and five women. Is there a reason for that?

I wish I could think about that more, but the final person steps into their circle. Immediately the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stands on end. The air seems to hum around me as the circles light up blue. It's hard to place my finger on it, but if I had to describe the sensation, I'd say it's like there's too much static electricity in the air.

I glance at Kyle, who's giggling and clapping his hands as he watches the blue energy run through the lines until it reaches the gem in the centre. Suddenly, I feel a headache coming on. It grows intense, making me feel like something is trying to claw its way into my brain.

Please choose who will be your Tribe Chief...

Those words. How did they appear in my mind? I grimace at the invasion of my thoughts as I glance at the others. I try to ask the others if they are experiencing the same thing. But no words come out. What the heck? This is bullshit!

I catch sight of Sarah gesturing to me out of the corner of my eye. She rapidly points at Kyle and gives me a nod. I see. She must have the same message.

Kyle. I can only hope that's enough and that whatever is doing this got my response. The pain suddenly receded as I gasped for air. How did I not realise I had been holding my breath? My chest aches, and there is a dull pain behind my eyes.

Congratulations. You are now a member of The Legion Tribe.

Accessing Store...

Information floods my brain, but it's not painful. Uncomfortable is the word I'd use. What the hell is this? I have ten free stat points and one hundred credits. What does that mean? As I focus on the stat point part of the information, a strange new message appears.

Body: 0

Mind: 0

Will: 0

Soul: 0

It seems like whatever prevented me from talking before is over. Since I can hear Kyle whooping and cheering, causing everyone to look at him.

'I was right! This... Is... Amazing!' Kyle chuckles as his eyes dart around our group. Yep. This guy annoys me. I sigh while I wait, like the others, for him to explain what he knows. 'Sorry... sorry. Give me a minute til I work out how to explain this.'

I roll my eyes at him while I study him more closely. His brown curly hair comes down to his shoulders, and there's acne on his face. If I had to guess, I'd say he is only sixteen or seventeen years old. Why did we choose this kid to be our leader again? Oh, that's right, because he's the only one that seems to know what's going on and found something useful.

'Does anyone here play video games? No? That's a shame.' Kyle says while shaking his head. I used to play games, but life got in the way. Before I knew it, they lost all appeal. Instead, I looked forward to lazing on the couch. 'Ok, so think of this place as one big computer program or game.' Kyle continues to a round of groans. 'It's commonly referred to as a System in popular media today. There are thousands of books dedicated to this genre, and I've read quite a few. So we should be able to work this out easily enough.'

'But first, let's talk about the important part. Stats.' I frown at Kyle's statement as I fight the urge to punch him in his smug face. I'm pretty sure everyone else feels the same way. The most important part to me would be how did we get here? Then how do we get home? I sigh as I focus on Kyle's lopsided grin.

'Now, Stats are probably key to our survival here. I think we probably have to work together to beat this game.' Kyle says as he studies our reactions.

'And that will get us home?' A woman with red hair in a pixie cut asks hopefully.

'Maybe.' Kyle replies as he bobs his head up and down. 'I can't say for sure, but it's possible.' He flashes another goofy grin at us. 'Now, we need to understand what each of these stats does. The Body stat seems relatively straightforward. It probably makes you faster and stronger. Maybe harder to hurt as well.'

'I'd say it probably compares to a warrior-type class in most games.' Kyle nods his head sagely as he rubs his chin. 'Mind is a bit harder. Maybe makes you think faster and reason better. Or it's related to psychic attacks and defence? So a possible Psychic or Mentalist class type?'

A few people murmur worriedly at that statement. Myself being one of them. I certainly don't want someone poking around my brain!

'Will is probably short for Willpower. So that probably leads to a Mage-type class.' Kyle chuckles as I notice a glimmer in his eyes. I guess I know what stat he wants to work on. Personally, I thought he'd go with the body stat after his explanation about it. I shrug my shoulders as I wait for him to explain the Soul stat.

'Now, that leaves Soul.' Kyle sighs as he shakes his head. 'I have no idea what that means. I guess it could lead to a Healer-type class. You know, since they're usually called clerics or priests. Which fits with the stat name. It's either that or there are attacks that damage a person's soul, and this lets you do that and defend against similar attacks.'

Kyle shrugs as he glances at each of us. 'We need to do some testing. Does everyone have ten free stat points?'

'Yes.' I reply in a deadpan voice along with the others.

'Ok, well, I'll put all ten of mine into Will. Do we have any volunteers for the others?'

'I'll take Body.' A young woman says. 'My name's Sam.'

I guess that's short for Samantha. She looks to be in good shape. Probably spent a lot of time in the gym. Her muscles and figure look toned but not bulky. Her blonde hair is in a braided ponytail that reaches her waist. Definitely my type. If I had to guess, I'd say she's in her mid to late twenties.

'Mind for me.' This time it's a young man who's slightly overweight. 'I'm David.'

I already dislike this guy. His small, dark eyes glance at Sam as he chews his lower lip. Already I know what this guy is thinking. I watch as he wipes away the sweat forming on his head and short, dark hair.

Nobody volunteers for the Soul stat. I sigh as Kyle catches my gaze. Why is it always me? Note to self, avoid this guy in the future when he's looking for volunteers.

'I'll take Soul.' I give an unenthusiastic smile to the group as Kyle nods his head. 'You can call me Rick.'

'Ok, on the count of three, we four will put all ten of our stat points into our chosen stat. 'Ready?'

I nod with the others as Kyle counts down from three. 'Now!' Kyle shouts with a little too much vigour. I close my eyes and imagine my ten free stat points going into the Soul stat. A tingly sensation runs through my body. It's a strange feeling. It's almost like a layer of energy forming under my skin. As soon as I spend my tenth point, a new message appears.

Soul Skill Slots Available: 1

Unlocking Soul Skills...