Chapter 111: Titles
Alex Sythias’ POV (continued):
Despite the really interesting implications, everything that had happened right before the fight with that undead monster had completely slipped my mind with the events of the last day. As important as this was, more pressing matters had been on my mind.
But I remembered now and finally had time, so not wanting to wait a moment longer, I quickly retrieved my status with a mental command.
[System Status Beginning]
Name: Alex Sandclaw
Species: Lizardkin (14%)
Species subtype: Red-eyed Crocodile Skink
Title: None selected
Level: 31
Mana pool: 1120/1120 (full)
Attributes:
Physical: 115
Mental: 111
Spiritual: 112
Path one: [Dragon rider Prime]: 0
[Dragon riding]: 21
[Empty]
[Empty]
[Empty]
Path two: Locked
Path three: Locked
General Skills:
[Temperature resistance]: 6
[Blunt force resistance]: 19
[Drawing]: 29
[Draconic Mana manipulation]: 31
[Draconic lightning magic]: 21
[Draconic magic resistance]: 7
[Empty]
Dragon rider sub-system: Starting up
[System Status End]
And there it was, right above my level, an entry that hadn’t been there before. It was just like the announcement had said, it was called “Title”, whatever that meant. Was this meant for royalty and nobles? Did that mean I could get a title, too? The System had told me my path made me count as nobility for the purposes of the System, after all.
I shook my head. No, that couldn’t be it. Why would we need the System for that? Things had worked out just fine without it so far. But then, what was it for? I had no idea. I supposed I could choose the option and see what happened, but that just sounded like a bad idea. What if I did something that screwed my progression over for the rest of my life?
Then again, all other System functions allowed you to revert your choices, too, so why not this function as well? The System wasn’t malicious and more often than not tried to make things as clear as possible. On second thought, it couldn’t hurt to just take a look, right? But just in case it changed something, I wanted to check out the rest of my status first to see how I’d progressed.
My level had gone up by one, and my Attributes had changed respectively. I had noticed I had leveled earlier, but the change in Attributes had hardly made a difference. I felt as strong as I did before. I supposed that was the downside of having high Attributes—each level up had a relatively small effect on your strength.
My Skills had also leveled just fine. My manipulation Skills had gone up a few levels, as had my resistance Skills. The real winning price was [Dragon riding], though. It had gone up from seven to twenty-one—an astounding fourteen levels. And I’d barely had it for more than two days. It was frankly insane. Then again, I had flown around on Felix for two full days, fought multiple battles while on dragonback, slept while flying, and some other small different things. It was no wonder it had leveled like it did, now that I thought about it. I didn’t doubt for a moment that it would slow down soon, however. It was the nature of Skills.
The empty slots for the [Dragon rider Prime] path bothered me, though. I needed them all filled before I could start leveling the path itself. That was for later, though, after I’d talked with Felix about it. I was probably the first one to have this path in centuries—there were no books I could consult about my Path. I’d have to figure it out myself. But together with Felix, I was sure we could come up with some ideas.
There was also the other new addition to the bottom of my status. I remembered the System mentioning it when I got my class, but it seemed it was a whole section to my status. I had expected the Dragon-rider subsystem to just be a background thing of sorts, but apparently not. I was curious what it did, but compared to the Title entry, I didn’t care quite as much—I couldn’t do anything with it yet, anyway. But I’d have to keep an eye on it. If it changed, I wanted to know immediately.
Now, with that all done, it was time to check out the new System function. Well, first I needed to tighten my straps and warn Felix just in case the System knocked me unconscious again. It had done it before, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Hey Felix!” I called over the rush of the wind.
My words were torn away by the air, but Felix seemed to still have heard me, as he slowed down a little so we could talk.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Remember that global System message about the title system?” I asked, and he nodded as much as the drag of the wind allowed. “I’m gonna check it out now. So if I fall unconscious or anything, you’ll know why.”
He nodded. “Alright! I’ll keep flying, but I’ll go slower so you can tell me the result.”
“Sounds good!” I called, and then finally focused on that nagging sensation telling me to open the title menu. It took a small moment to figure out which command exactly it needed to open, but before long the new window flickered into view.
[System Title Message Beginning]
Congratulations! By unlocking and choosing your first Path, you’ve gained the ability to pick a Title! Be careful with your choice, as you can only change your Title once per week and others will be able to see what you’ve picked. There are exceptions. These Titles are not visible unless you want them to be. They are marked with an asterisk.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Only the bonuses of the equipped Title are active.
Your available Titles, sorted by significance, are:
[Student]: Become a student at a recognized institution.
[Artist]: Make art.
[Mage Initiate]: Learn a spell or magic Skill.
[Giant Slayer]: Kill an enemy ten levels above you.
[Dragon Rider]: Ride a willing dragon.
[Dragon friend]: Befriend a dragon.
[Dragon mate]*: Enter a romantic or sexual relationship with a dragon.
[Grand Archeologist]: Discover a long lost ruin or artifact of great significance.
[Prime]: Obtain a Prime Path.
[System Handyman]*: Repair a part of the System.
[System Title Message End]
I read it through, and then again, and again. I blinked, was it really that straightforward? It seemed so.
“Felix? Can we land for a moment, I need to talk this through with you!” I called, and a moment later Felix swerved down towards the ground and landed.
“I needed a rest anyway,” he said once we touched down. “So, tell me, what’s this whole Title thing about?”
I nodded. “So, from what I've been able to piece together, a Title is much like a Path, but with a few differences. It offers a bonus, but unlike a Path, the options are based directly on specific things you’ve done rather than processes and interests like with Paths,” I said, giving him the example of the [Giant Slayer] title. “Aside from that, the biggest differences are that it doesn’t seem to offer any Skill slots and things like that and that you can swap it out.”
Felix nodded along while I spoke, making notes. But at the last sentence, his pencil froze. “Did you just say you can swap them out?” he asked, a strange expression on his snout.
I nodded. “Yeah, once per week.”
Felix shook his head. “This is going to cause absolute chaos…” he said. “Before, a [Farmer] was just that—a farmer. Now imagine the farmer equipping a Title that gives him a large bonus to fighting, only to switch it back when the danger has passed.”
I tilted my head at him. “Isn’t that a good thing? If the people can protect themselves better?”
“It is,” he said, “but it also means that everyone’s armies just expanded significantly. And on top of that, we’ll get a rush of people trying to unlock better Titles.”
I thought for a moment about all the people who were just waiting for a chance to improve their life, or who would do anything for more power. I cringed as I thought about people learning about Titles like [Giant Slayer] and getting themselves killed trying to get them.
“I think you’re right, but there isn’t anything we can do about it,” I said. “Besides, this is all just speculation. For all we know, the bonuses these Titles give are so small that people won’t think it’s worth the trouble of going out of their way to get a specific one.”
Felix thought about that for a moment. “Fair,” he said. “Let’s go figure it out then. Do you want to pick one? Actually, how many options did you get?”
“I got ten,” I said, then listed them out for Felix. “I’ve already given it some thought, though, and I think I’ll go with [System Handyman].”
“I can’t say I would’ve chosen differently, but can you explain why?”
I nodded. “Yeah. The first three seem like they’d give a weak bonus. I won’t be choosing the dragon related Titles, either. I know you’ve had some trouble in the past with people not being with you for you, so I am not going to make you think that’s the case for me.”
Felix nuzzled me. “I know that already, you doofus. I don’t think you could’ve faked your affection even if you wanted to. So don’t let it stop you if you want to pick one of those Titles.”
I felt a fuzzy warmth inside that had nothing to do with the pleasant heat of the sun. I gave Felix a quick hug and a kiss. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. I still won’t go for them right now, though, since [System Handyman] sounds like a much more interesting option. I already have a class that provides me with dragon related Skills and bonuses, as well as giving me Prime privileges, whatever that means. And I don’t really care much about archeology. But I do really, really want to know what kind of bonuses a Title like [System Handyman] gives.”
“Well, alright, then. What are you waiting for?”
I shrugged and chose the Title.
[System Title Message Beginning]
You have chosen [System Handyman] as your Title. You cannot change this for 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 55 seconds. By default, this Title is hidden for others.
You have repaired and reactivated the Title sub-system, as such you’ve been rewarded this Title. You have access to this title for as long as you have prime privileges and are sapient.
This Title gives you a temporary bonus of +10 to all Attributes and temporary access to relevant System error messages and tasks to do. Completing these tasks or solving the error messages will be rewarded. Selecting a different Title will undo these bonuses, though any Title-unrelated rewards received will remain.
Note: The second bonus will only go into effect once the dragon rider sub-system is powered on and active.
[System Title Message End]
I read the System message through a few times, then read it out for Felix. We both weren’t sure what to think of it, except that it was definitely interesting. The bonus Attributes were pretty straightforward, and the sudden rush of strength was quite nice. But the second bonus was strange to say the least. And before the events with choosing my Path, I would’ve called it absurd. I hadn’t thought it was possible for the System to have errors, after all. Clearly, that thought had been wrong, but what could I do to help fix it?
The idea that I would be able to fix errors in the System led me down a different train of thought when I looked at Felix. I remembered he had told me that the System had sent him that global message, too. Did that mean he secretly had the System, but it just didn’t work right for him for some reason? Was it an error I could fix?
I brought it up with Felix but he just shrugged. “If you can, I’d love to have the System. But if not… well, it would definitely still suck, but I’ve accepted it at this point—mostly,” he said, his tail drooping and his expression all resigned. “Though, if it’s the second, maybe you can figure out why it’s the case? If at all possible, I’d very much like to know why I can’t, but everyone else can.”
I nodded. “I’ll see what I can do,” I said, but just like with the dragon-rider sub-system, I’d have to wait to find out. I hoped it wouldn’t take too long, though. Not that I could do anything to speed it up.
We talked about the Titles for a little bit longer while we ate some breakfast, but soon it was time to leave again. We took off and soared over the desert for the rest of the day. It was relaxing, and my slightly improved Attributes let me see just a little more detail. I saw the sand rabbits and lizards walk around the dunes, and I could swear I occasionally saw a sand-snake, too, despite them being the exact same color as the sand below.
We passed quite a few villages and some larger towns, but it wasn’t until well into the evening that we finally came up on Paradise City—it did not live up to its name. Candles and enchantments lit the city up and people walked about all over the place. High towers and tall houses littered the city in a vague circle shape, everyone wanting to be as close to the oasis as possible. To the side of the city stood a large complex. It was surrounded by a large and intimidating enchanted fence, though the gates were always left open and a small stream of people were constantly going through them. Right now it was mostly a bunch of children going home. It was the local branch of the Academy, acting both as a school and sort of guard for the city.
It also had one of the few teleporters that lead out of this world. That was good, since the closest natural portal would’ve been weeks away.
As we approached, Felix banked towards the branch location and landed right outside the gate. Lizardkin ran away in alarm, though quite a few just stared at Felix with confusion, no doubt wondering why we were here of all places. News of the collapsed caves had probably spread all over, already.
As we walked through the gate, it didn’t take long for someone to come running up to us, staring at us with a shocked expression, before quickly pointing towards a large square building decorated with numerous murals. It looked like a copy of the teleportation complex back home, except with different stories on the walls.
“Master Sythias, master Alex,” the woman said, greeting us, “Please come this way. A teleporter is already being prepared.”
We nodded and followed the woman without another word. While we walked, I glanced at Felix and mouthed the words ‘master?’ at him. He glanced at the woman, then shrugged.
“Must be your Path identifying you as a noble,” he whispered back.
I wanted to ask, but I didn’t get a chance before we were handed over to a different person and led through the teleportation complex until we came to a large open room where a teleportation disk was already being lowered into place. Two dozen mages stood around it, inspecting various details and checking us over the moment we arrived. We were told to stand in the center, and the moment we did, the mana around us started humming with that strange hum that meant the teleporter was powering up.
I glanced at Felix and noticed he had tears shining in the corners of his eyes. I put a hand on his shoulder and he smiled at me.
“We’re finally going back home,” he said, before a flash of purple mana swallowed us both.