//Killed lvl 1 Gremlin – 5 exp gained!
//Killed lvl 1 Gremlin – 5 exp gained!
//Killed lvl 1 Gremlin – 5 exp gained!
//Congratulations! You have reached lvl 2! – Your stats have been increased!
//You have earned 3 Free Stat points!
//You have earned 1 Skill point!
…
Looking over her notification, Bug grimaces as her body starts to heat up a little. The pain passes quickly, but it was still a bit distracting.
Shaking herself a bit to loosen the lingering discomfort, Bug pull up her inventory first and makes sure that her new treasure is safely stored away. She smiles as she sees the two boxes filled. One still showing as [Blood covered].
If I wash my first one, they should stack in the inventory…
Looking around for a puddle, Bug walks over and takes a drink before pulling out both mana crystals and giving them a wash.
As she occupies herself with washing them both clean, she wills the Status Page to open.
----------------------------------------
Stats
Name – Bug
Age – 0
Race – Gremlin
Class – None
Level – 2
EXP – 6/15
Free Stat Points - 3
Heath – 36/36
Stamina – 15/15
Mana – 30/30
Vitality – 6
Endurance – 5
Strength - 4
Dexterity - 8
Magic - 3
Intelligence - 11
*Luck – N/A
*Note: Luck is a work in progress stat. Points cannot be put into this stat at this time.
----------------------------------------
Hmm, my Vitality, Dexterity, and Intelligence all went up by one. That increased my heath to 36… So, one point of Vitality is six points of health? Going from what I learned from the manual, Endurance is for my stamina and makes me a little more resistant to stuff. Strength is for how strong I am, while Dexterity is for speed, flexibility, and precision. Magic controls how much mana I have and how big of a spell I can cast. And then there is Intelligence, which increases control over mana and also helps to make me smarter… Sort of? It’s a weird stat from what I understand…
Bug doesn’t even bother thinking about the Luck stat, as there is currently no information on how it works, and she can’t even use it.
Looking over her stats, she decides to allocate her free stat points to Endurance and Strength, bringing them both up to six.
Confirming the spent points causes another flash of pain to go through her body, but it is thankfully quick to pass. Moving her arms around, she certainly feels a bit stronger. Maybe the shape of her muscles has changed a bit?
Hmm, interesting. I could have put them into Magic, but I don’t even have any spells to use yet. Would be a waste for now. Better to stick with making myself stronger.
Finishing up on washing the mana crystals, Bug stands up and holds them both under the light, marveling at their glow and how they reflect the world around them.
“Beautiful…”
Storing the both of them safely away once she has had her fill, Bug double checks her inventory and smiles.
‘Mana Crystals x 2.’
“It’s nice seeing the numbers going up. Makes me feel like I accomplished something. Almost like I earned a gift…?” She asks to nobody in particular while looking up at the ceiling.
She waits, but nothing happens…
“Well, was worth a try… I got that other thing too, lets focus on that for now I guess.”
Opening up her Points Store, Bug looks over the page.
Displayed in the top left corner is her balance. It currently shows as having one Skill Point. There is another point type apparently, called Item Points, but Bug currently has none of those. Bug opens the information tab for those and reads them over to compare to her knowledge she got from the manual.
‘Skill points. Granted as rewards for leveling up and for completing various other tasks. Can be spent in the Points Store for Skills, Spells, and Knowledge.’
‘Item points. Can be earned by selling stuff from your inventory. Everything has a price, from rocks to corpses. If you can put it in your inventory, you can sell it. You can then use your accrued points to purchase anything your heart desires from the Item Shop.
[Note: the ability to sell living things has been patched out, along with the ability to put living things in your inventory. Don’t bother trying. Thank you, Shal’magathor the Destroyer, for bringing this issue to our attention.]’
“Huh…. Who the hell is Shal’magathor the Destroyer?”
Well, with a name like that, Bug quickly decides to avoid ever meeting them if possible.
But, from the look of it, that knowledge book didn’t actually teach me everything… I know how to use the store, but I hadn’t even known about the points, what I can buy, or even that I could sell items. Who ever made that manual did a shit job…
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Pushing that aside to complain about later, she looks over the store page and at some of the things she could buy.
“Weapons, clothing, tools, crafting resources, potions, books, toys, housing, vehicles, it just keeps going… wait, why is there no food section?! You’re telling me I can’t just buy cookies! Damn half-finished System...”
Pushing aside her disappointment in the System – more things to complain about should she ever meet REDACTED - she opens Weapons and scrolls through, gawking at the number of zeros that are attached to the prices of some weapons. While some are some simply listed as being 10 points, others are listed as high as 100,000,000,000 points… She pulls up the item description for the most expensive weapon that she can find.
‘God Stinger. A single use weapon packed with enough mana to potentially kill a god, maybe…
Note: This weapon will break after one use and will most likely kill its wielder upon use. High Vitality is highly recommended for anyone considering using this weapon. REDACTED is not responsible for the deaths of anyone that uses this weapon. You have been warned. No refunds!’
“Ok… definitely won’t be saving up for that… What else can I find?”
Switching through pages, Bug works her way through the Item Shop, getting a general idea for some of the stuff that can be bought and their prices. She is tempted to spend more time simply browsing, reading the descriptions for the different items that catches her eye, but the Dungeon will be opening soon, and she needs to hurry.
“Ok, skill store. Let’s see if I can get anything with my one point…”
Switching to the Skill Store, she immediately sets the filter to only show stuff sold for one point. Even with the filter in place, there is still a baffling number of things that she could buy.
A quick look through knowledge quickly has her dismissing those options. It covers everything from different kinds of math and doing taxes, to languages and how to conduct oneself as a noble. And those are just the one-point options, though they seem to only cover the basics and introductory knowledge, being labeled as volume 1 on many of them.
Being able to buy knowledge could be useful, but it is pointless right now. Bug needs things that can help her survive right now, not in the future when she needs to know how to keep the tax man off her back or how to navigate social situation without making an enemy of a noble’s spoiled daughter.
Looking at her other choices, she decides to look at spells first. Filtering for one point of course.
At the top of the page, a warning is listed.
‘Please note new users, the System is powerful, but it cannot bend the rules of how magic works. At least not yet.
Once you have selected your first spell, the type of magic that you pick shall become your primary element. Once your primary element has been selected, you will be unable to change it again and all options to purchase incompatible spells will be removed. This is for your safety and to keep you from accidentally wasting your points on something you can’t even use.
For more information on the workings of magic, primary elements, secondary elements, and the counters and reactions of different and opposing magics colliding, please purchase the knowledge linked here. For further study materials for any aspiring witches and wizards out there, we recommend checking out our ever-growing selection of books on the subject that can be found in the Item Store, linked here.
Best of luck and thank you for your continued use of the System!’
“Ok… And how much does that knowledge cost?”
Bug clicks on the link and her screen changes, showing the knowledge in question.
“Two points… So, I will have to save up another point to get that then if I want to use magic... I could just get a spell that sounds interesting or cool, but I am really lacking knowledge on how magic works. And I definitely don’t want to end up screwing myself over by picking a bad type of magic and getting locked out of using something better…”
She looks over the list of some of the 1 point spells, scanning over them.
Fire Spark, Lightning Spark, Wind Push, Flowery Scent, Make Water, Throw Rock… Throw Rock!? Why would I want magic for throwing rocks? I can do that myself!
“Haaa… I guess I’ll just wait on doing magic for now. Now the question is if I should wait and save up points, or I if I should get something from the Skills?”
Directing her attention to the Skills Store, Bug opens it and filters for 1 point only again.
Much like the other shops, this page has a litany of options available, even just for a single point. The vast majority of them are the beginner’s stage of a Skill, labeled as being lvl 1. There is anything from knife fighting, fist fighting, gymnastics, climbing, knot tying, and even fire making, extending to even skills like piano playing, carriage maintenance, horse riding, and AC installation and repair. Bug has no idea what pianos, carriages, horses, or even AC is, but if she wanted to, she could get the skills for doing it.
This raises the question of how Skills are different from Knowledge, but thankfully the Knowledge that was gifted to Bug actually does lets her know the difference. Knowledge is for the mind, making you simply know things. While Skills are for the body. They guide your actions and help you do things correctly and more efficiently. By having both the Skill and Knowledge for something, you can become even more proficient in it, eventually even being able to master it.
“Hmm, for now, the best options are looking like Knife Fighting lvl1, Throwing Weapons lvl1, Stealth lvl1… and a skill called Identify lvl1.”
Bug gives the skill another look and reads its description.
‘Identify lvl1. Become able to learn information about whatever you choose to observe. At lvl1, this skill is only capable of telling you what something is and, if applicable, their level. Further information can be provided at higher skill levels.
[Note: When identifying a target that is not a registered user of the System, an appropriate level will be assigned to them based on the System’s best calculations for their combat power. Please be aware that as targets get stronger, this calculation can become less accurate. Proceed with caution.]’
“Hmmm… I could make myself better at fighting, hiding, or I can get a way for seeing if something is stronger than me…”
Bug sits down next to the water, pulling a piece of moss off of the wall to munch on as she thinks. She has six minutes until the Dungeon opens for the day.
Being able to fight better will help me level up faster. Being able to hide easier will help me avoid fights and even get away from enemies. And being able to scan enemies will make it so I can pick my fights better… and I have no idea how strong the humans are…
“All right, I’ve decided. I’ll get Identify.”
Selecting the option in the store, Bug hits purchase. A loading bar pops up for about a second before immediately filling and disappearing, followed swiftly by a sharp pain in the back of both of her eyes that last for about a second.
“Ach! Why does this stuff have to hurt!? MMrrr… damn System.”
Rubbing at her eyes, the pain slowly goes away. Looking around, Bug feels intuitively able to use the Skill now. Just a small push of will towards her eyes is all she needs for the Skill to take effect.
‘Dungeon wall. Wall of the Dungeon. It’s wet.’
‘Dungeon floor. Floor of the Dungeon. It’s covered in dirt.’
‘Dirt. It’s dirt.’
‘A pond of water. Safe to drink.’
‘Dungeon moss. Edible moss that grows in Dungeons.’
‘Dungeon mushroom. Poisonous mushroom that grows in Dungeons. Do not eat.’
‘Glowing Dungeon mushroom. A glowing mushroom that grows in Dungeons. Edible but doesn’t taste good.’
…
“Well, those aren’t very useful… I get more information by checking the items in my inventory and the store. Though, it is only lvl1, so I hope it will get better as I level it up…”
Looking away from the random stuff in the Dungeon, Bug turns her attention to the dead Gremlin that she just killed and robbed. She gives him a scan.
‘Lvl 1 Gremlin. Dead. A weak mob found in most Dungeons first floors.’
Bug grimaces at the description, giving herself a scan in turn.
‘Lvl 2 Gremlin. A weak mob found in most Dungeons first floors.’
“Great, well that doesn’t make me feel very good about this situation. I had a feeling that we aren’t all that dangerous, but to be called weak just like that…”
“Haaa… nothing I can do about it. I just have to keep getting stronger. Then it won’t matter if my race is weak. As long as I am strong, that is all that matters.”
Bug checks the clock. Three minutes left…
Looking at her map, the Dungeon entrance is a distance to the north. Her map isn’t filled in, only showing the areas where she has been. But thankfully it still shows the location of the entrance regardless of her not having been there yet.
Alright, let try to keep as much distance as I can from the entrance for now. I’ll keep working on gaining levels and gathering stuff while keeping away from the humans. Hopefully, I’ll be able to either avoid them for a while, or get strong enough that I can kill them when we do meet.
I should also see about gathering things to sell to the store. I could use some more stuff…
Thinking that, Bug turns her attention back to the corpse.
The shop did say that I could sell corpses…
Getting up, she walks over to it, and places a hand on the bloody thing. It takes a bit more effort than with other objects, but eventually, the corpse vanishes in a flash of light.
Checking her inventory, Bug confirms that it is there. She quickly finds the option to sell, trying to ignore the ominous description that she finds for her people. It isn’t a pleasant thing to read.
//Sold Gremlin Corpse x1.
//2 Points Earned!
Looking down at where the corpse used to be, Bug spits at the wall to try and get rid of the nasty taste in her mouth. Pushing down her feeling, she turns and heads down the hall, returning to where she killed the other two Gremlins.
With no time left, Bug sells the corpses and then sets off, heading vaguely south, picking up any objects and trash that she can find as she goes, selling them all.
Oh… She found the missing pair to that boot she found earlier. People really need to be more careful about losing their footwear in the Dungeon.
…
//Time 00:00
//Starting Day