Seeing the many options that appeared before his eyes, he didn't hesitate to choose the one most appealing to him after playing D&D for so many years of his life.
[Aspiring Mage selected!]
[Please choose three skills!]
[Mana Bolt - Active - Summon a bolt of mana to strike your foes!]
[Mana Arrow - Active - Summon an arrow made of mana to pierce your foes!]
[Mana Shield - Active - Summon forth a shield of mana to defend yourself from strikes!]
[Mana Weapon - Active - Summon forth a weapon made of mana to strike down your foes!]
[Mana Armor - Active - Summon a layer of armor made from mana to protect yourself!]
[Light - Active - Summons forth a ball of light to illuminate your surroundings]
[Spark - Active - Summons forth a spark that can set things aflame]
[Mana Sense - Passive - Allows for the user to sense the mana in their surroundings and others]
[Meditation - Passive - Allows the user to meditate to gain 1% of their mana per minute]
Putting only a bit of thought into his choices, he chose Mana Bolt, Mana Sense, and Meditation.
[Skills have been selected]
[You have gained Mana Bolt Lvl 1]
[You have gained Mana Sense Lvl 1]
[You have gained Meditation Lvl 1]
[Please select a perk]
[Enhanced Vitality - Perk - Gain +5 Health Per Level]
[Enhanced Mana Capacity - Perk - Gain +5 Mana Per Level]
[Enhanced Stamina - Perk - Gain +5 Stamina Per Level]
[Danger Sense - Perk - Sense Danger moments before it happens]
[Low-Level Nightvision - Perk - Gain low-level night vision to see better in the dark]
[Strong Arms - Perk - Gain +5 to Strength]
[Nimble - Perk - Gain +5 to Agility]
[Tough as Nails - Perk - Gain +5 to Endurance]
[Healthy as a horse - Perk - Gain +5 to Vitality]
[Eagle Eyes - Perk - Gain +5 to Perception]
[Fast Reflexes - Perk - Gain +5 to Reaction]
[Smarty Pants - Perk - Gain +5 to Intelligence]
[Wisdom of the Ages - Perk - Gain +5 to Wisdom]
[As Determined as a Bull - Perk - Gain +5 to Willpower]
[Mind of Steel - Perk - Gain +5 to Resistance]
[Self-controlled - Perk - Gain +5 to Control]
[Focused on another level - Perk - Gain +5 to Focus]
He didn't hesitate to choose Enhanced Mana Capacity, it was simply because the perk would be a kind of 'Growth' that would give a lot of mana.
And since he was a Mage, mana should be important, right?
[Enhanced Mana Capacity Perk gained!]
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Then silence, no more notifications, and the screens that were appearing before his eyes, and not from the terminal stopped appearing.
Staring out into space, Bright wondered if what he just witnessed was real.
However, when he thought about his status, it appeared once again!
Looking over the changes in his status, he wondered how he could cast his spells, giddy with excitement, he tried everything to cast the spell until he eventually managed it.
[Mana Bolt!]
A bright blue bolt of energy appeared in his hand and launched off in a random direction, quickly slamming into the ground and leaving behind a scorch mark.
"Uh...Bright?" Clair's voice came from behind him, causing him to freeze, and slowly turn around to find the people already on this side.
'How did I not hear them?!' Bright scolded himself.
---
Meanwhile, Kohl who was watching this whole encounter couldn't be happier.
If the System was attached to Bright now, he'd have a semi-immortal adventurer to explore his Dungeon!
Though Kohl was curious if someone else put on his pendent, would they become connected to the System too? Or would Bright have to manually reconnect to the System with each new body he gets?
Then there was the hilarious scene of Bright casting his first spell right in front of all of the entering humans, including those who were in the 'council' they formed in their settlement.
They gawked at the power of a simple magic spell, something that was so weak that frankly, it was to Kohl, what an ant was to the sun and the entire universe, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵.
"Wait...let me explain!" Bright shouted over the whispers and clamoring of the crowd.
"Have you had this the entire time?!" Someone asked from the crowd.
"No! I just touched the console! Clair, come here! See for yourself!" Bright shouted and almost dragged her to the console to show her, failing to mention the burning pain that would come with it.
Only when the holographic screen appeared did they seem to get distracted.
"Click yes, and you'll be able to do it too!" Bright explained, and Clair clicked yes, not seeing any downsides to it.
Just like before, her hand got stuck to the console same as Bright's and it started burning.
Grunting in pain, she yelled, "Get me off!"
Others rushed forward in an attempt to pry her off of it, but Bright got in the way with his hands raised, "Relax! She's fine, it'll let her go in just a moment."
Just after saying that, she was let go, and I could only assume that the system messages began appearing for her.
Speaking of which, I was now able to see floating lines of text above both of their heads.
[Jack Bright - Aspiring Mage Level 1 - Human(Male)]
[Clair Higgins - Aspiring Leader Level 1 - Human (Female)]
It took a few moments for her to choose her class, but it was among the lines of what he expected her to choose.
Only after Clair confirmed what Jack was saying did some of the people look at the consoles with interest, though there were many more that looked at them with suspicion and fear, which was to be expected since they were Human.
But it was a start.
It would take time, but eventually, all of the people would become integrated into the System once they realized the power and benefits that came with it.
After all, who would say no to becoming stronger, faster, more intelligent, or even living longer?
Something to note, however, was that with just those two becoming integrated into the system, I noticed a very slight increase in mana generation.
As in a single point a day from them both.
Kohl could already see how that would be beneficial to other Cores, imagine if you had thousands diving in your dungeon every day. Your Mana Generation would quite literally skyrocket!
And the higher the level an adventurer gets, the more mana dissipated from their bodies and into the Dungeon!
By the time an hour had passed, of ninety-three, twelve men and women had integrated themselves into the System and had selected their classes.
Of the classes, there were of course Bright's and Clair's Aspiring Mage and Aspiring Leader.
The rest, however, chose the following: One chose Aspiring Chef, another Farmer, four chose Aspiring Warrior, two more chose Aspiring Mage, another chose Hunter, and the remaining two men chose different classes than the others.
One chose a class named [Aspiring Knight], and the other [Aspiring Herbalist].
It may have been less than what Kohl expected, but hopefully more would join soon.
---
"This feels...weird," Jay told Bright, clenching his hands.
"No kidding, but it's certainly not a bad feeling," Bright replied with a smile on his face.
"How can you two be so calm?!" Clair shouted.
"What?" Jay asked, confused.
"Do you two not find this weird?! All of the consoles in this area show signs of disrepair! Who knows how long this area has been abandoned!" Sarah shouted at the two.
"Of course it's weird, but do you seriously not find this 'System' even weirder? It lets me cast magic, for Christ's sake" Bright replied with a careless shrug of his shoulders.
"We can focus on that later, Bright! Now, we need to focus on setting up camp and making sure we don't starve to death before we find civilization!" She shouted just loud enough for the other council members to hear before whispering to herself, "If it even exists..."
Clair had doubts, why were the consoles in such a state and not repaired by those that created it?
Were they busy in some way? Was it forgotten? Was it so unimportant that those that created it no longer even bothered maintaining it? Did the civilization even exist? A myriad of thoughts swirled through her mind, and she didn't like many of the situations that cropped into her mind.
She needed to get the people to work, set up hunting and gathering parties, people to make a camp here, and so much more.
Luckily for her, whatever the system did, based on what Bright suggested, would only improve their chances of survival.
Though there was one concern, was there a limit to how many could get this 'system?'
Even more importantly, how did this system work? Were there limits? What all could this system do?
So many questions, yet seemingly no answers to them. Worrying...