The world was white. And then, it wasn’t. Nenn blinked, looking at a reflection of himself in a mirror. The mirror itself seemed to stretch into infinity from Nenn’s perspective. He tried moving and found no resistance. Above his head in the mirror’s reflection he saw some black Babelscript come into existence.
Welcome to The Trial.
Avatar modification will commence shortly, followed by the tutorial. Once the tutorial time period has elapsed you will be transported to your Obelisks starting area.
Avatar modification.
Please vocalize, or think with intent, for any changes you wish to be made to your person. Please note that once printed into and out of the Trial your body’s organic functions will be simplified and will be mostly cosmetic.
Time remaining 15:00/15:00
Holy fuck, this is exactly like a video game, were Nenn’s first thoughts. A smile crossed his face as he felt himself enter a familiar head space. Time to test the limits of this new System.
“Can you make me look like my World of Warcraft main?” Nenn asked. That’ll be a hard… one? Nenn’s thoughts were interrupted as his reflection suddenly took on the appearance of his long-time world of warcraft character. It wasn’t an exact match as the character had been transformed into a real life human being but it was definitely recognizable. Nenn looked down at his physical hands and saw they were still his original familiar hands.
“Okay then, how about my Final Fantasy 14 main?” Nenn asked.
Error, species does not match integrated user. The user may select from the following archetypes: Human.
“That’s not a very exhaustive list. What about something ape-like?” Nenn said.
Error, species does not match integrated user. Ancestral species does not coexist with the user at the time of integration.
“Okay then. What about if I wanted to look like myself but if I had been born female rather than male,” Nenn said.
Randomizing results.
Nenn looked in the mirror as he saw an uncanny familiar face staring back at him. Their features were softer, rounder, definitely more feminine. A couple of seconds later and the image changed slightly. A couple seconds later it changed again. In every new iteration Nenn saw the influences of different family members. In one he looked a lot like his mother. In the next he looked more like his Aunt. Then one of his grandmothers. The cycle continued as Nenn saw the traits from the female side of his family appear before him.
“Okay that’s enough, can we return to my ‘pre-integration’ self? Nenn asked. The reflection in the mirror returned to match his own appearance.
“Can we make changes like, no longer needing glasses, or having perfect teeth,” Nenn asked.
Your body’s organic functions will be simplified once printed into The Trial.
Nenn looked at the mirror oddly, opening his mouth to ask for clarification when he saw his new perfectly aligned white teeth staring back at him.
“Can we make me stronger? Or see in the dark?” Nenn asked.
Negative.
“Right, cosmetic changes only. Simplified organic function like eyesight, correct?” Nenn asked.
Affirmative.
“Well that’s good, at least I don’t have to worry about breaking my glasses,” Nenn said. But that brought up an interesting problem. What should I change? There’s nothing I really desire or care about changing. Nenn looked at his reflection, happy with his 6’3” stature, somewhat broad shoulders and an overall average body shape. He truly looked like a generic man with no real standout features other than his height.
“Okay I’m satisfied with my base form. I will not be making any changes,” Nenn said aloud.
Time remaining 4:23/15:00. Please wait until the end of the Avatar modification process to proceed. Any changes may still be performed until the end of the time period.
Nenn looked at his reflection. It was the only thing to really look at in the space he found himself in. The surrounding area was white. The mirror was infinite in length, and the lack of a light source, let alone a shadow made it hard to tell if there even was an end to the space. Not that it would make a difference, he doubted he could do anything but stay on the rails of the integration process.
Time remaining 0:30/15:00. Please make any final modifications.
On impulse Nenn said, “You know what, give me some darker highlights in my hair. I would hate to look completely plain.” And with seconds remaining his reflection revealed his idealized form of darker highlights, just enough to add some depth to his hair without being too overbearing.
The world flashed white once more, and Nenn found himself standing five meters away from a wooden training dummy with straw stuffed clothing. A medieval inspired cap helmet on its head cast an ominous shadow over the crudely drawn face.
Bablescript began to appear on the ground between Nenn and the training dummy.
Welcome to The Tutorial.Time remaining 30:00/30:00. To begin, we have printed you into your chosen avatar, and have given you access to The System. The System will allow you to interact with the world and grow in ways that lower dimensional beings could not prior. To bring up The System, please think or say the word ‘STATUS’ with intent.
STATUS, Nenn thought. A piece of paper popped into existence in front of Nenn’s face, hovering there until he took a hold of it.
NAME: Glenn (Nenn) Kerr
SPECIES: Human
ORIGIN: Earth ([0.0.0.0.0] Year 0, Day 0, Hour 0, Minute 0, Second 0.)
SHIELD: 100/100
HEALTH: 100/100
STAMINA: 100/100
MANA: 100/100
STATS:
VITALITY: 10/10
STRENGTH: 10/10
DEXTERITY: 10/10
INTELLIGENCE: 10/10
WISDOM: 10/10
COMBAT LEVEL: 1
COMBAT CLASS: Undefined.
CRAFTING LEVEL: 1
CRAFTING CLASS: Undefined.
HOBBY LEVEL: 1
HOBBY CLASS: Undefined.
GENERAL SKILLS:
[Basic Mana Shield] (Level 1)
Nenn looked the sheet up and down. It seemed pretty standard for an RPG, which only made him smile. When the Bablescript had said any changes to his Avatar would be cosmetic only this is exactly what it had meant. Nenn had started with 10 of every stat.
Most fields can be expanded upon by thinking with intent.
Nenn tried this. Why does it say my name is Glenn (Nenn) Kerr.
NAME: Glenn (Nenn) Kerr. Born as Glenn Kerr, but known as Nenn to his acquaintances and family. Would you like to make a change to your name?
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“Yes! Can we please change my name to just be Nenn Kerr?” Nenn asked.
Affirmative. Process complete.
“STATUS,” Nenn said. The piece of paper within his hands was replaced with his updated status sheet.
NAME: Nenn Kerr.
The STATUS SHEET will exist as an item as long as you intend it to exist. A limited STATUS SHEET can be produced with only the details you wish to share. The NAME field is mandatory and must be unique to each integrated user.
Now entering the Combat Tutorial. The world of The Trial is mostly untamed and wild. All integrated users are required to select a basic combat class before exiting The Tutorial. Please note that these classes will serve as a starting point for further diversification. Please select one of the following choices:
Warrior: Steadfast they stand at the front of battle. Either specializing as a tank or as a heavy armored damage dealer. Can use most physical weapons and shields to hold the line. May your battles be plenty and your victories great.
Paladin: Bound to uphold order they fight for their ideals. A jack of all trades that focuses on heavy armor and shield usage to protect those that cannot. Let your shield stand unbroken in face of overwhelming odds.
Cleric: Bound to maintain order as they support their party. An unparalleled light armored healer specialization focused on victory though supporting their teammates. Be the light in the darkness that stands firm.
Druid: One with nature and nature is one with them. A shapeshifting jack of all trades that focuses on natural armor. Be it fang, claw, roots, or magic a druid maximizes versatility. Let those who think they can uproot your domain see the folly of their ways.
Shaman: One who communes with the elements and spirits. Focused on ritualistic magic that can enhance their party members or bring upon an elemental cataclysm upon their foes. May the past protect the present and guide the future.
Rogue: The unseen force from the shadows. A medium armored fighter specializing in stealth and close range opportunistic combat. May your enemies hide in fear of your reach.
Monk: Discipline, structure, and body enhancement. An agile light armored melee fighted specializing in hand to hand combat and internal resource manipulation. Strike hard and weave your way through conflict like no other can.
Hunter: The stalker who hunts from range. A bow wielding medium armored class that specializes in physical range attacks. The silent first strike is often the deadliest. May your foes dread the day you are on their trail.
Mage: Master of magic. Mana is yours to manipulate as you see fit. A light armored damage dealing caster that can specialize in an infinite amount of ways. See your magic become the utility that your foes cannot withstand.
Warlock: Master of ritual. Everything has its cost, and you know just how to afford it. A light armored damage dealing caster that can specialize in an infinite amount of ways. Strive for the knowledge to do the impossible.
And those were the standard choices Nenn had been expecting since the Avatar Customization phase. This was one of the scenarios that Nenn and his friends had planned for. They would pick the class the most closely aligned with their past video game playing experience. Aiden would pick a tank role (Paladin or Warrior), Harper a healing oriented one (Cleric). The twins would pick whatever variations of caster there were and hyper compete against one another. Jack probably Mage and Liz probably Warlock. So that left Nenn with the task of picking a melee ranged damage dealer.
Warrior, Druid with shapeshifting, Rogue, and Monk. Those are realistically my choices. But, what to pick. With two pure damage dealing casters, a cleric, and a tank, all of the options seem to be perfectly viable. But given that this is a do or die kind of situation. Wait, is it?
“Hey, I’ve got a question,” Nenn said. “What happens if we die?”
Numerous things. Death can be permanent. Death will always result in permanent soul damage. The amount depends on how long from death until resurrection. If the soul is too damaged a user cannot be resurrected but their corpse can be animated. Most healers will be able to resurrect a recently departed user. Shamenistic rituals can stabilize the soul longterm, binding it to material objects preventing further soul damage. If a soul is too damaged it will cease to exist.
“So to summarize. Don’t die, but if you do you could be resurrected, but live a lesser existence than before.” Nenn said,
Affirmative.
With that in mind Nenn had made his decision. In his infinite wisdom he decided his best choice was to not choose.
“I would like to be a druid.”
Nenn felt a surge of power flow through him. It felt serene. Like when one is hiking through a forest alone on a pleasant day surrounded by the sounds of nature. But there was something else undercutting it. Something more, animalistic, primal in feeling. This other energy was the opposite of serene. There was no sense of calm to be had, just the urgent desire to strike. To maim. To kill, to carve out a domain. Nenn smiled. This would suit him just fine to start with.
The new sensation of power coursing through Nenn’s veins died down to an ignorable tickle, one that would surely fade in the coming days as he adjusted.
New COMBAT CLASS Obtained: Druid (Integration Tier)
New Skill obtained: (Active) [Entangling Roots]. The forest crawls with all sorts of hidden hazards. Summons roots to bind and squeeze an opponent. The strength and number of roots depends on the amount of mana infused into the skill and the environment summoned in. Be aware, [Entangling Roots]’s effectiveness will be severely limited against fire, metal, and massive.
New Skill obtained: (Passive) [Nature’s Regrowth]. Embrace the healing factor of nature. Allows for the druid to form a meditation circle in nature and increase their resource recovery factor. Cannot be used in combat. Caster must focus on being one with nature while meditating and cannot perform other tasks.
General Skills obtained: [Basic Dagger Proficiency]. Strike slightly harder, with slightly more accuracy and with slightly more technique than otherwise.
General Skills obtained: [Basic Combat Staff Proficiency]. Strike slightly harder, with slightly more accuracy and with slightly more technique than otherwise.
General Skill obtained: [Basic Casting Staff Proficiency]. Cast spells slightly faster, slightly more efficiently, and with slightly more potency than otherwise.
Two utility skills, Nenn thought. Entangling Roots will definitely come in handy. And Nature’s Regrowth will help with downtime so I can spend more in combat without sandbagging the group. And three weapon proficiency skills. Good to see caster staves are still just stat sticks in this version of reality, Nenn thought.
Your choices of starting weapon are on the table in front of you.
Nenn wondered what table, then out of thin air, a sturdy wooden table appeared with three weapons on it. A small dagger with a slightly curved metal blade. A plain wooden staff with fabric wrapped around the middle, leaving the ends bare. And a wooden staff with a couple of feathers tied around one end. Nenn returned his attention to the Bablescript.
Test out the weapons available to you and select one to carry with you into The Trial. This is the final step of The Tutorial. All resources will be returned to maximum when The Tutorial ends. Time remaining 14:32/30:00.
I love how The System left out the crucial detail of how to cast spells. Nenn thought. Well, might as well try it out, after all this whole ‘think with intent’ seems to be the theme. Nenn looked at the overstuffed scarecrow in front of him. He visualized his target and with intent, thought.
[Entangling Roots]
Nenn watched the white ground beneath the target dummy crack as a thick brown root emerged and wrapped itself around Nenn’s target, just as Nenn had imagined it. He walked up to the root and tried to move it, but found that it had set itself in shape. From his perspective, there was no difference between this root and one he could come across in a forest. It felt real. It looked dirty, as if it had burrowed through soil, and it had a couple of offshoots. That part looked a little wrong to Nenn, but if it followed the theme of ‘simplified organic function’ it would make sense that a tree root wouldn’t need to branch as much, the intent would just have to be there.
Nenn checked his mana. Mana 80/100. Twenty mana per cast. I can’t tell if that’s generous or not given the setting. That’s definitely better than being capped to a maximum number of casts in a day. Casting seems simple enough. And it’s neat that I don’t need to open up the status page to see it, I just instinctively know when I think about it. Now let’s try out a weapon.
Nenn walked over to the table and picked up the dagger. It felt right in his hand. Like a kitchen knife he had been using for a little while. Familiar, and he felt well aware of where the pointy end was. Trying it out on the dummy was simple. He thrust the dagger a couple of times, puncturing the straw-filled clothing, and found it to be as straightforward as he thought. He tried a couple of slashes, and had some success, but the dagger wasn't the sharpest knife he had ever used.
I wonder how much stamina this is using? Nenn wondered. Stamina 83/100. It looks like it's currently a single point of stamina per strike. To test his theory Nenn struck the dummy once more and was rewarded with a satisfactory 82/100 stamina.
Next came the combat staff. Compared to the dagger this was something a little further out of the norm for Nenn. But it still felt right in his hands. He picked up the staff and gave it a twirl, feeling how it was balanced. Then he focused in on the target and lunged, hitting it square with the blunt end, pushing the dummy slightly off balance as it rocked back into position. Nenn didn’t give the target a chance to recover as he spun around and extended, swinging the staff down into the Dummy’s neck. Less movement to the dummy, but to a flesh and blood opponent it would be a devastating blow. Nenn swung the staff, moving though some forms. Forms that he never knew he knew. Maybe he had absorbed them through some Kung-Fu movies or something, but it definitely was not part of his pre-integration skillset.
And then there was the caster’s staff. Not much to be said about it. It was also a staff, a bit lighter as if it was made out of a lighter wood, and it felt less structurally sound. Not a weapon to be bludgeoning others with, that’s for sure. Nenn checked his mana. It sat at 85/100. That works out to about 5 mana in five minutes, or 1 mana a minute. Not the quickest recovery, but definitely not the worst.
Nenn casted [Entangling Roots] again, and watched as a second brown root emerged from the cracked ground and wrapped itself around the base of the target dummy. 70/100 mana. So that’s 15 mana to cast with the staff. A 25% reduction. That seems… substantial, but yet, right now, not the biggest difference. Sure, I would go from 5 casts until I’m out of mana compared to 6 casts with 10 mana remaining, but then I’m just a rooting machine, without a way to actually deal damage. Maybe I could upgrade the roots to strangle, or be barbed, or poison, or something, but for now, they are just useful for crowd control.
1:00/30:00 remaining. Please make your final selection before time elapses.
I could take the dagger, that seems pretty useful, and provides some utility outside of combat. Or I could take the staff, which fits our combat profile better. I’m willing to bet that there’s no friendly fire assist here, so if one of the twins is airmailing in a fireball, the extra reach might be the difference between getting singed or burnt to a crisp.
It was a simple choice for Nenn to make and he grabbed the combat staff. It felt the best in his hands after all, and it had the most advantages. The dagger had some utility, and the staff would be more useful later when it allowed for more casts to happen, but for now, the best weapon was the one that didn’t require limited resources and put him at risk.
Armed with his new plain wooden staff Nenn stood there stoically as his world once again faded out of existence as time expired.