"Huh."

One might think that this would be said when someone is stumped or surprised, and while both of these are true it might be a bit of an overwhelming reaction to the current situation.

The person who let out this exclamation had only just walked back into their home after getting some groceries and found themselves stopped by a screen. This was neither a phone screen, nor the T.V screen in his living room, but instead a floating, almost holographic-like screen hovering about half an arms length away from his face. As of now, it's simply sitting in front of them, with a little loading icon slowly spinning on its surface. Blinking a few times, he slowly puts his grocery bag on the counter next to him, pinching themselves and feeling the expected little shock of pain.

"Welp, I'm not dreaming then...am I hallucinating?"

Taking a step forwards, he hesitatingly reaches out to touch the screen. Just before he can though, the screen gives off a little jingle and flashes for a second, causing him to jump back. Once the flash of light fades, the screen can be seen to have text on it, which he reads over quickly.

Greetings! A System Update has been activated. Please standby while new content is processed.

“...Ok what the hell is this.” The box goes back to its loading screen, and after a few more moments of nothing happening he decides to keep walking into his house, picking up his groceries and going to the kitchen to put them away. “Whatever that thing is, either I’m going crazy or this is somehow actually happening, but I’m not gonna let my ice cream melt just because of an acute hallucination.”

After putting away everything he got at the store, he sits down on his couch and tries to turn on his T.V, only to find that it refuses to work. He sighs, putting the remote down and turning to look at the odd magic screen once more, it having followed him through his house as he moved around. It always stayed at that half an arms length away, almost like a little robot or something. After a few more moments, the screen finally resolves whatever ‘processing issues’ it was having, loading more text onto itself.

Content Integration Complete. Hello, I am Sub-System Number 39676396, and I will be your System Module from this point forward. Welcome to the Character Creator! In this section, You will be able to modify your body if you wish, as well as calibrate how many Abilities you wish to start off with and how many of them. First off, what would you like your name to be going forward?

Reading over the text as it forms, his face slowly shows more and more disbelief. Eventually he stands up and holds his hands out as if to stop the screen from dumping any more unbelievable information on him. “Whoa whoa, hold up, there are so many questions that need to be asked right now. First off, how do I know that any of this is real? And that I’m not just going crazy?”

If you look outside, you will notice that nothing seems to be moving. This is because  everyone is currently in the Character Creator. The System did not believe it would be safe to introduce itself to everyone while people are working, flying planes, driving, etc. As such, everyone is temporarily in a bubble of accelerated time in order to avoid any potential accidents.

A look outside shows that the screen is right. Maria from down the street is frozen mid-jog, the clouds aren’t moving in the sky, and a sparrow just flying out of a nearby tree is stuck in mid air. Actually, that explains why the T.V isn’t working, the signals just haven’t gotten to it yet. Rubbing at his face, he turns back to the screen and sighs. “All right, assuming that this is actually happening and today isn’t just some kind of fever dream, I’ll play along I guess. Uh, you asked for my name, right? It’s Alex, Alex Whitmor.”

Excellent! Thank you for your cooperation, Alex.

The screen suddenly expands out, becoming a good deal larger. The top section still has a part for this...Sub-System to write in, but the majority of the new space is dedicated to one large section with a list of names to scroll through.

Now that you have chosen your name, we can now move onto the Race section. Please choose a race to play as from this point forward. By default you can play as the Human race, but the others available now are based on your previous experiences and preferences in various media. However, feel free to ask for more options, or even request for specific options. If there is an available Race or Races that match your descriptions, I will be happy to add them to the list! You may also change your gender, height, weight, and many other factors to fine-tune your body, if you wish. Be warned though, Races or body modifications that cause extreme physical changes may cause a sense of dysmorphia for some time after Character Creation. /\ Beastman (Wolf) Wood Elf Beastman (Lizard) Drider \/

Alex begins looking over the options, scrolling down through the menu before stopping as he registers something the screen had said. “Wait, how do you know what I’ve played or watched before? What, did you hack into Google and get all of my information or something?” Although he said it sarcastically, the fact that the screen went blank at the question puts him right back into disbelief. “Wait, did you actually-” The screen cuts him off, typing out a response rapidly, almost like it was trying to explain itself in a panic.

Technically the System didn’t hack into anything, it’s just quite easy to analyze electrical signals and interpret information directly! A-anyways, have you decided on what Race you would like to become?

If this was an anime, that screen would have sweat drops running down its back with how nervous it seems. Alex gives it a half-glare for a few more seconds before going back to looking at the Race options. “I’m not sure, there isn’t exactly any information on these other than names. Actually, you said I could request Race options directly, right? Is there anything along the lines of Dragonborn, or Dragonkin, something like that? If this is really a thing then I may as well go big.”

Ah, there are several options for Dragon-like races, though most of them count as Sub-Races in the Dragonoid Race. I can pull them up for you, as well as some descriptions for how they look and what they might give you. Dragonoids: Those descended from or related to the mythical dragons, however distantly. All Dragonoids gain the [Mana Pool: C-Tier] Ability for free. Thanks to their draconic blood, it is easier for Monsters and Beasts to see Dragonoids as a threat, and may be more inclined to attacking unless they can be convinced otherwise. Dragonoid Sub-Races:

Kobold:

Kobolds are short, skinny, and look more like lizard beastmen than the descendents of dragons, but there is the smallest amount of dragon blood in their ancestry, and as such they have lots of potential. They are particularly good with their hands, nearly rivaling the gnomes for their gadget and trap making. They do have the odd quirk of working better with recycled materials than custom-made things, though, which gives their work a somewhat shoddy appearance.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Beastman (Dragon):

Dragon Beastmen are directly descended from dragons in one way or another, and as such have taken on some of their characteristics. Just like other Beastmen, the amount of human-to-dragon that is visible can vary from person to person, from just patches of scales here and there and a tail to completely dragon-like physiques in a humanoid form.

Beastman (Drake):

Similar to Dragon Beastmen, Drake Beastmen are direct descendents of drakes, the weaker cousins of dragons. They tend to be more slim and lean compared to the bulkier Dragon Beastmen, and retain the wings of drakes as well. Whether or not these wings are functional or merely aesthetic depends on the person, though.

Dovahkiin:

Dovahkiin are the odd ones out of the Dragonoid Sub-Races, looking almost entirely human on the outside while having the soul of a dragon. They do retain some of the constitution and stamina that one would expect from a descendent of dragons, but otherwise they could be any normal person. On top of that, they trade off the [Mana Pool] Ability for a unique Ability, [Dragon Shout], which allows them to use Aether in a unique way under the right conditions.

Chuckling a little after reading over the choices, to the screen once again. “Alright, I can definitely see where the Kobold and Dovahkiin subraces are coming from, but what’s with all of the Beastman races and subraces? I noticed one or two of them in the other list too.” He idly scratches his chin as he reads the screen’s reply. He really needs to think of a name for it, calling it ‘the screen’ in his head is getting a bit tedious.

Given the sheer number of different examples of mostly similar races and subraces in various media with only small differences between them, the System decided it would be more efficient to simply compile them all together into general categories and let people choose specific looks and Abilities from there.  

“Oh yeah, you mentioned Abilities a couple times. Any chance I could get an explanation on what exactly those are?” Alex thinks over some potential names for a moment, before snorting at an idea that he just can’t pass up. “You mind if I call you Lucy, by the way? It’s a bit boring just calling you ‘the screen’ in my head.” The screen goes still for a few seconds, almost like it’s surprised, but blinks back into motion before I can get worried over it.

 Sub-System Module Number 39676396 has been renamed to Sub-System Module ‘Lucy’. Thank you for giving me a name! As for your request, I can give you a general run-down of what Abilities are. Abilities are built-in powers and skills that a Race and/or Sub-Race has from the start, though they can be worked upon and developed further. Some Abilities are general and multiple different races can have them, such as the [Mana Pool] ability Dragonoids gain for free. Others are locked to specific Races and Sub-Races, such as Driders and oher spider-like Races that can gain the [Web Spinner] Ability. I should note though that, at least for some Abilities, it is possible to recreate them after Character Creation. You may also have noticed that there is a ‘Tier’ included in the Dragonoids [Mana Pool] Ability. Ability Tiers are a way of measuring how much effort has gone into training and improving an Ability-or in this case, how good the Ability will be immediately after Character Creation. The higher the Tiers of the Abilities you choose, the fewer the number of Abilities you can have.  

“Well, good to know then. I’m assuming the little blurb about how Monsters and Creatures will be more immediately hostile is supposed to be a way to counteract the free Ability?” At the little chime and bob the scre-Lucy, actually, the chime and bob that Lucy does in a nod-like manner, Alex leans back in his seat and thinks over his options so far. “Hmm...I mean, even though the mention of Monsters and Creatures is ominous as all hell, it’s not like I’ll be out the door and ready to try and hug the first giant beetle or whatever that I see. And if I do decide to go out looking for Monsters or whatever, then it’ll probably be to hunt them anyways. Doesn’t seem too bad of a consequence compared to getting an Ability that seems like it will just give me access to magic right away.” Lucy floats into my point of view, writing out more text for me to see.

 Although it is entirely possible to use magic without the [Mana Pool] Ability, it is also very convenient to have a reliable, internal source of mana that naturally regenerates over time. The higher the Tier, the more mana it can hold overall and the faster it can regenerate mana. It is especially useful for Races with other Abilities that uses mana.  

Alex raises his brow at Lucy’s response, getting a bit excited about his choice now. “That wouldn’t happen to include Dragonoids, now would it?” At its nod, he gives a little grin and leans forward once more, clapping his hands together. “Alright, I’m convinced. Let’s go with, ehh...Dragon Beastman. As for the appearance variation it mentions, why don’t we go a bit more on the exotic side? You know the dragonborn from D&D? Something like that.” Lucy collapses back into one screen for a few seconds, a little loading icon back on their screen, before a ball of light flashes out of their body and grows into a vague form, slightly larger than myself.

Something like this? If you can think of anything you want to change, feel free to let me know! 

The form slowly forms more and more detail, until it looks like there’s a living, breathing lizard person in Alex’s living room. Covered in tannish scales that look like you could take a handsaw to them and just sheer off the teeth, which fade into a shiny copper coloration where the scales grow the thickest, and with a decidedly lizard-like skull structure, it cuts an intimidating figure. It’s also slightly bulkier than Alex all around, with slit pupils and what seems to be very sharp teeth, it’s definitely not someone you want to meet in a back alley. There’s a thick spiky fringe along and underneath the jaw of his soon-to-be body, it kind of looks like what a bearded dragons chin looks like. Maybe in an attempt to copy his beard? “Wow...I mean, just...wow. Do you think you could make it a few inches taller? I’m not exactly short but I always kind of wanted to be at least a few inches taller than I am. Being 5’11” is just so annoying for no reason.”

After a few more minutes of little adjustments, Alex is satisfied with the changes and moves on to picking out Abilities. There’s just as many things to choose from there, but he eventually decides on these:

[Mana Pool: A-Tier] [Elemental Affinity (Metal): C-Tier] [Scaled Hide: D-Tier] [Humanoid Diet: E-Tier] [Elemental Affinity (Fire): E-Tier] [Dragons Breath (Fire): E-Tier]

This might need a little explanation. Basically, when deciding your Abilities, you start with 20 ‘points.’ Each Tier in an ability costs a certain amount of points depending on how high the Tier is, in a 1-2-4-6 pattern. Since he had a free Ability with the [Mana Pool], Alex could upgrade it at a lessened cost to a higher Tier by subtracting the point cost of the current Tier and the one it would be upgraded to and buying it with the difference between them. It’s a bit math-heavy but not too much to deal with.

As for the Abilities themselves, they have a couple of different benefits and effects that he thought would be quite handy. [Mana Pool], as Lucy already explained, gives you an internal source of mana. Other than being convenient, He’d guess that actually doing magic is different depending on where you’re drawing the mana from. The [Elemental Affinities] are just general Abilities that increase how well you can ‘understand’ an element, though Lucy was a bit vague in what exactly that means. The [Scaled Hide] makes the scaly skin of the new form defend more against physical attack which is always a nice feature, and the [Dragons Breath] is exactly what it sounds like. The [Humanoid Diet] one may seem a bit out of place, but apparently Beastmen often take on the dietary habits of the animals they resemble, at least partly, and this Ability helps circumvent that issue. With it at E-Tier though, I’ll still have cravings for more raw meat than I’m used to though.

  Alright, your new physical form has been decided and your Abilities have been chosen. Applying changes and calculating Skill requirements and Skill levels. Please stand by.

“Oh, uh, alright. Wait, what was that about skills-”

And with that, Alex is coated in a bright, iridescent light, suffusing his body and beginning to change it into something entirely new.