You are attempting to invite Ralph Obexis to your party. Do you wish to invite Ralph Oblexis to your party?
My first thought was one of appreciation—the notification stood out from the usual status page in a way that immediately caught my attention. Then I was overcome with pure excitement. YES! I thought.
WARNING
You are requesting a non-system user to join your party. In inviting this person to your party, they will be given access to the system. THIS IS PERMAMANENT! Giving access to a person will allow them access to all the benefits that the system provides. They will start with a level that is a rough approximation of their current abilities and strengths. They will not be given privileges that the current user experiences. Do you wish for Ralph Obexis to join your party? You will not receive this warning again in the future.
QUEST
You have received a quest. Add 10 people to the system.
Reward: +10% to efficiency of all attributes.
As I stood there in stunned silence trying to understand everything that just happened, my family watched on patiently. Or, well my mother and father did. “Big brother! Big Brother! What super cool awesome thing does your talent do?” Ayla shouted, unable to contain her excitement.
“Nothing outwardly impressive, sorry Sprout.” I had recently started referring to my little sister as sprout because she was following in the family footsteps of being tall. In the last few years, she had grown to right at 4 foot tall. “Why don’t you go outside and play while I talk to mom and dad. Were about to have to talk about boring adult stuff and you will definitely get bored!” I stage whisper to her.
My parents look at me a little concerned that I had sent Ayla outside but trusting that I had my reasons. Being reborn didn’t grant me perfect control over my body, and my emotions sometimes overwhelmed me. However, it did make me extremely well-behaved. It did not help my parents prepare for what a hassle a true child will be, i.e. Ayla, but hey at least I was awesome.
With Ayla out of the way, I decided to add my father to my party. Almost instantly, the response was apparent. His reaction was calm, but his face went from relaxed confusion to stern concentration in an instant. His eyes grew slightly distant as though he was looking at something in front of him that only he could see. I made a mental note to remember that. It would not due to be standing around looking zoned out for no reason.
While my father continued to look through the screens I noticed that I had a general sense of where he was now. More than what I received through my Panoptic Sense. Not only that, if I concentrated, I was able to pull up his status screen.
Due to the privileges of the user, the user is given access to view party members status page.
New skill acquired – Leadership
Name: Ralph Obexis Talent: Aegis Invoker
Level: 43
Class: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Profession: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Race: Human
Strength – 89
Dexterity – 77
Endurance – 98
Constitution – 103
Wisdom – 52
Intelligence – 61
Luck -34
Skills:
Identify – Level 1
Sword Mastery – Level 1
Shield Mastery – Level 1
Aegis Arcana – Level 1
Aegis Manipulation – Level 1
Block – Level 1
Dodge – Level 1
Leadership – Level 1
Well, it’s good to know that if the system ever becomes widespread enough for others to invite me to join their parties, they won’t automatically be able to see my status page. I was quite surprised by his attributes, though there could be many reasons for them. Especially considering he didn’t have a system before now. What I found most curious was that all his skills were currently at level 1. If I had to guess, I’d assume that everyone starts at level 1 and that, as he uses his skills, they will improve to match his current level.
“Well, son, I must say you have a very interesting talent. I’m guessing that Identify is the ability you used to determine what our talents are? The notification I received said you were trying to add me to your party. Now that I’m in your party, I’m getting a general sense of where you are and how you’re doing. This kind of information would be invaluable in a dungeon. I also like how Identify presents information—it’s quite useful. This is your talent, son, so should I go ahead and choose a class, or should I wait?”
I gave his question some serious thought. I had no idea what getting a class might do. “I honestly don’t know what will happen. What I do know is that class choices are based on your skills, attributes, race, and achievements. I’d guess that choosing a class would improve you, as it would build upon your current baseline.” After hearing that, my dad nodded, and his eyes went distant.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Jace, honey, can you add me as well, please?” my mother asked in her usual calm and collected tone. Knowing her talent was called Mood Mirror, I could understand why she worked to maintain such a composed demeanor.
Name: Julliane Obexis Talent: Mood Mirror
Level: 33
Class: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Profession: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Race: Human
Strength – 44
Dexterity – 54
Endurance – 51
Constitution – 43
Wisdom – 77
Intelligence – 81
Luck -24
Skills:
Identify – Level 1
Knife Mastery – Level 1
Bow Mastery – Level 1
Soulwave – Level 1
Psychomancy – Level 1
Acrobatics – Level 1
Dodge – Level 1
For the first time in my ten years of life, I experienced what it felt like for my mother to push her emotions onto me, and I was certain she had never done it before. Now that she had the system, she might eventually become more subtle with her ability—perhaps to the point where others wouldn’t notice—but for now, when her surprise pressed itself onto me, I felt it immediately.
“Oh my!” she exclaimed, startled by the sudden screen that appeared before her.
“Hold off a moment before you choose your class, dear. I have a few options, and they each provide attribute distributions per level along with a rarity indicator. Based on the amount of attribute distribution, I can guess that some of these classes are rarer. But what does that mean? Do you have any ideas, Jace?”
Thanks to my knowledge from Earth and the detailed insights provided by Identify, I was able to hypothesize a few possibilities. For instance, my understanding of Earth’s RPG mechanics led me to suspect that class progression would involve a mix of skill usage and experience gain. “I don’t know for sure, but I think rarer classes not only make you stronger but also grant more powerful skills. Beyond that, I’d suspect that the rarer the class, the harder it is to level.”
My father nodded, and then I felt him—solidify was the only way I could describe it. It was as if he had just become more of himself. In my Panoptic Sense, his outline grew ever so slightly sharper, and to my eyes, he seemed subtly more in focus than before. It was like I had undergone laser eye surgery and could now see with perfect clarity, but only when I looked at him.
“Well, I must say, love, that was an extremely drastic yet subtle shift,” my mother remarked. “It’s quite disorienting to witness in person. If I hadn’t seen it happen with my own eyes, I wouldn’t be sure anything had changed.”
I had to agree with her and quickly checked my father’s status again.
Name: Ralph Obexis Talent: Aegis Invoker
Level: 44
Class: Aegis Warden Level: 1
Experience: 0/8100
Profession: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Race: Human
Strength – 90
Dexterity – 78
Endurance – 101
Constitution – 108
Wisdom – 54
Intelligence – 63
Luck -34
Skills:
Identify – Level 1
Sword Mastery – Level 1
Shield Mastery – Level 1
Aegis Arcana – Level 1
Aegis Manipulation – Level 1
Block – Level 1
Dodge – Level 1
Leadership – Level 1
Arcane Rebound – Level 1
The most obvious change I noticed was that my father had gained a class: Aegis Warden. From the name alone, I assumed it was a tank-style class, which I felt fit my father’s personality perfectly.
“Well, I must say, this class business is fascinating. The class I chose is called Aegis Warden, and it offers +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +5 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and +2 Intelligence per level. Not only that, but I also received a new skill. It just sort of imparted the knowledge of how to use it directly into my head. The skill is called Arcane Rebound, and it builds a charge based on the damage done to any of my shields. I can then unleash this charge whenever it reaches its limit or whenever I want. At this point, I’m excited to see what sort of class you’ll have, Jace. You mentioned you had privileges, right?”
“While I do have privileges that others don’t—like not needing to meet any prerequisites for a class—I don’t yet have a class. The first time you can choose a class or profession is at level 10. I suspect it’s so you can earn some achievements toward unlocking better classes, but I’m not entirely sure yet.”
As my father and I discussed his class, I felt a subtle but distinct change in my mother’s presence. Where my father’s presence felt sharper and more focused, my mother’s seemed to resonate, like the hum of a tuning fork—not a sound you hear, but something you feel beneath your skin. She had the same quality of becoming more herself like my father, but instead of drawing all focus toward her, she seemed to radiate that hum.
Sensing the change, I quickly checked her status.
Based on the name of her class alone, I suspected it was stronger than my father’s. I made a mental note to ask her if there was any information about the rarity of classes when choosing them and whether the system provided any details during the selection process.
Name: Julliane Obexis Talent: Mood Mirror
Level: 34
Class: Psionic Muse Enchanter Level: 1
Experience: 0/5500
Profession: N/A (Available)
Experience: 0/100
Race: Human
Strength – 45
Dexterity – 55
Endurance – 54
Constitution – 45
Wisdom – 81
Intelligence – 86
Luck -24
Skills:
Identify – Level 1
Knife Mastery – Level 1
Bow Mastery – Level 1
Soulwave – Level 1
Psychomancy – Level 1
Acrobatics – Level 1
Dodge – Level 1
Empathic Nexus- Level 1
"I do believe I have to agree with you. Could you imagine how much easier some of the dungeon runs could be with just these new abilities? My Empathic Nexus allows the entire party to be linked emotionally, letting each person feel when the other is about to attack or enabling singular buffs to be shared throughout the group. Jace, dear, I know this might be hard for you to understand, but you must never give someone else access to this system unless you trust them unconditionally. I wouldn’t even give this ability to your sister until she’s much older and able to understand its implications better. Do you understand, sweetie?"
I nodded. I did understand. Just thinking about how most people only have their talent and perhaps gain some strength by going through dungeons made her point clear. I could give them access to more skills—powerful ones at that.
My mother’s Empathic Nexus initially seemed modest, but its potential began to unfold in my mind. What if my father had a spell that could completely negate all damage to a single person? With her ability amplifying his, that protection could extend to the entire party, creating an unprecedented level of defense. With my mother in the group, now everyone would have a shield that stops all damage. The possibilities were endless.
"I understand, Mom," I replied with a solemn voice. "But there’s even more we’ll need to talk about.