My head was chanting One of us! One of us! One of us! I just couldn't make it stop.
No matter how I looked at it, from the little knowledge I had just gathered, manipulating light automatically made you a Saint.
You assumed a position of reverence that people looked up to. You were destined for greatness! All of it out of the blue.
And you could even partake in summoning rituals where you played God with the system’s assistance. Or be summoned to somewhere by someone for reasons.
It is a fucked up world. I just couldn't find any better way to describe it.
“-so that's why I'm sayi-”
“I'm sorry,“ I interrupted her. “I just realized I haven't heard anything of what you just said.”
Normally ignoring a person while they talk should, at the very least, make them pissed at you. I braced for a scowl and some admonishment, and I was surprised to see a pair of kind eyes showing understanding and pity. Well, to her, I had just learnt that my mentor Saint had died.
“I was saying that you qualify to be a Saint, but that you are not yet one. The class is a part of it, but that power comes with great responsibility, and someone has to teach that.”
So I have the car and know how to drive, but I still need my driver license.
“You make it sound like I will be a Saint.” The question was implied, did I have a choice?
“We can't afford you not having proper formation. As such, you will have to formally be part of The Order and attend their courses.”
So, no. I don't have a say.
“Now?”
“We sent notice of your arrival and your… situation. It will probably take them a few weeks to dispatch a representative who can evaluate your situation.”
“And, am I free until then?”
“Of course you are!” She promptly answered. “As long as you let me explain a few critical aspects that you should now.”
A part of me wanted to respectfully decline. I had many things to do and discover. But the more rational part of me knew that I already missed the opportunity to learn things with Charlotte, and that I couldn't pass one this one.
I nodded.
“First of all, everyone can be summoned at any moment. Normally, you can choose not to go, and that it perfectly acceptable. On the rare occasion, you won't have such option.” She immediately started throwing information at me.
“Now, given the situation with your master, you might be wondering why anyone would do that.“ She raised three fingers.
“One. Recognition. Both in your home planet but also across the planets where the System is in use. Your name being in the big shots list can open you some gold-plated doors.”
“Two. Money. I don't think I need to explain much on this. Being summoned is one of the most well-paid jobs here.”
“And three. Power. Summons usually find themselves in wars, and those are the prime place to be if you want to increase your level. And, trust me, you want to do that.”
“And lastly,” she said adding a fourth and unannounced point, “sometimes Saints don't get to refuse.”
I stared at the status window.
Status: {
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Name: Darian
Class: {
Name: Error #46
Level: 10
Energy: 360/360
Skills: { ... }
}
General: { ... }
}
Level 10. Class still unchanged. I was waiting for the inevitable moment, the epic movie part, where the message “You are being summoned” appeared.
It did not.
I retraced back to the three reasons. I could easily see why someone wanted to be famous—influence. Money, specially the kind that works interplanetary, was another obvious one. And being stronger should have been too.
Sure, being powerful. Fighting impossible enemies. Adrenaline! Dopamine! But she said levels. That was the one and only reason.
“Why are levels so important?”
“Well, for starters they define your growth. How strong you are, how fast you run, how much magic you can cast and how strong it is. All of that comes with levels.”
“But I couldn't choose any of it? I am level 10, and I could not allocate any points to any of those.”
“You want to do what?” She said slowly, one word at a time.
“I mean that I could not decide what I wanted to be.” I was sweating, both figuratively and physically. I had definitely slipped up and that would co-
“Ah! The system is smart enough to automatically decide what will work best for you. You might get some leeway in the future, though. Have you tried expanding your status information?”
I focused on my level and, as if had been always there, the information appeared.
Status: {
Name: Darian
Class: {
Name: Error #46
Level: 10
Energy: 6/[125 + 5×Vitality + 30×Wisdom]
Attributes [Base + 3×Level]: {
Strength: 3
Agility: 6
Vitality: 5
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 7
Stamina: 4
}
Skills: { ... }
}
General: { ... }
}
So there was a logic to the system, and it even tried to favour me based on whatever system logic it used. I expanded the information to get more about each attribute:
[Error #46 > Attributes]
+ Strength: Your physical power and ability to exert force. Lack of strenght will result in increased energy consumption.
+ Agility: Speed, reflexes, and dexterity.
+ Vitality: Increases the energy pool, allowing you to withstand more damage.
+ Intelligence: Boosts your magic power, your spell effectiveness, and your overall capacity to process and acquire knowledge.
+ Wisdom: Determines your ability to manage and use your energy, as well as attracting and conserving greater amounts.
+ Stamina: Improves endurance, fatigue resistance, and the ability to perform physical tasks over extended periods.
Just by looking at this I could draw some quick conclusions. Vitality was absolutely useless on me. Every six points in vitality amounted to a single one in wisdom, and even then the latter provided additional perks it seemed.
Agility and stamina were on the fence. I could see a point in them, but then again, hadn’t I used my energy in solid form to propel myself? Did that count towards stamina? I didn’t think so.
And strength… the whole last phrase was a source of concern, but not to the extreme that I believe it was going to be a problem.
“So, more levels will make me stronger overall?”
“Yes, it will.” She said, but I could feel there was still something else. “Although what most people seek is extending their life. Higher levels get to live for longer time, exponentially longer time.”
“Aha!”
There we go, that was the catch. People wanting to live longer was compelled to level up. Ironically, my fake master had prematurely died while trying to extend a bit more his life.
To be honest, I didn’t really need any convincing. There was a single whole point for this conversation. To get as much information as possible about how things worked. And I was not there yet.
Some follow-up questions discovered the rest of the system’s workings. Or at least those I needed right then and there. Attributes were part of a class, which meant if I acquired other classes, I would have more attributes.
I could not blindly get just any class, though. There was a limit. Nobody knew what the limit was. Sometimes one, sometimes three. Yasmin just didn’t know.
I will discover along the way, because for sure someone knows. And I'll be strong enough to make them tell me.
“Yasmin,” I fixed my dead eyes onto her, “I want to get stronger. I want to fight and earn my place. Can you help me?”
“How could I refuse the request of a Saint!”
And then I understood. I was one of them. One of us. Maybe not officially, but to their eyes, it still counted.
Maybe I gave you too little credit, Charlotte.
“Tomorrow there is an expedition to a nearby dungeon. Apparently, they were attempting some summoning ritual but something went wrong. Some equipment malfunctioned and now the whole zone is overrun with monsters.”
“A summoning ritual?” My summoning ritual? I left the latter part unsaid.
“That's wait they say,” she shrugged. “There are no records of any happening, so maybe it was an illegal summoning operation.”
Does that make me illegally imported goods from outside of the planet?
Deciding not to pay any more attention to that line of thought, I listened careful to Yasmin's idea.
The expedition would leave tomorrow morning from the South gate. It was composed of six teams, some composed of close combat, and other of ranged and supportive roles—no Saints involved.
Overseeing the whole operation would be a commander from the low platoon of the Fifth Sanctum. No one too important, yet enough for the job at hand.
Everything pointed towards a smooth clean up effort that would end the very same day it started.
I just hoped that wasn't true.