Darion pulled off his blue vest from his retail job and tossed it on a chair in the corner his studio apartment. “Another day as a checkout attendant over.” He said to himself as he ran his hand through his hair and headed towards the shower. He gave the messy lived in room a once over before his eyes again landed on the yellow package that contained his headband. He wanted to jump directly into ‘The Expanse’ since it arrived just before he left for work today. but he didn't want to stew in his own juices.
As he disrobed and started the shower he pressed himself against the back wall till the hot water caught up, and began to ease into the water. As the warm water poured across his shoulders he began to think about everything he learned about ‘The Expanse’.
It was like an mmo in several ways. But it also wasn't. Because an mmo was a game you played on an electronic device like a computer, console, or a vr headset. ‘The Expanse’ was like pseudo magic. It somehow astrally projected you into another world where you designed your ‘vessel’ as the game referred to them and you could either design a skill from a list of variables, or you can pick from a list of skills somehow taylored each individual.
Once you actually enter the game it's just hyper realistic fantasy with monsters levels and experience points. Skills, spells… all that.
There was more to it. This game was changing the world. That said, one of the reasons that this retail job didn’t completely blow was; they offered a voucher to pay back the 200 dollar price of the headband it required to play, if you made it to level 10 or tier 1.
The headband would paid in either case but if you got a Skill there was a chance that you could make a corporate sponsored team, if that was the case you could cease going on location to the store and start logging play time as hourly wages at a fair higher rate and you got to use corporate sources for gear spell shards.
If you didn't get a tier 1 skill. they still paid off your headband with the caveat that any loot from a dungeon was subject to corporate consideration and must be brought to a corporate location in game for sale and identification, any loot or gear you kept was actually leased to you, but it was an excellent way to get a head start. But if you were terminated the company required you to undergo class regression to tier 0, and your gear was forfeit.
Darions stood in the shower shampooing his hair and thinking about his character and what sort of skills he'd be offered. He shivered in anticipation imagining what sorts of skills there were to be had. One of the store associates from the gardening department apparently developed a skill that let them determine lies from truth. He shivered again at the thought. This game could actually awaken powers in a person. Not big blasty powers like in the game, but more subtle passive things like an eidetic memory or that ability to discern truth from lies in the real world.
That is what has the world clamouring to play this game. Real pay out real power. And the internet was bursting with videos from in-game. Streamers were making a killing with pop up dungeons and wandering regional bosses.
Darion grabbed his towel and began to dry his body before laying the towel across the side of the tub to dry the bottoms of his feet to avoid leaving floor puddles. He grabbed a anime themed t shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and threw them on before flopping onto his couch and reaching for the yellow paper envelope that contained his headband. It felt so strange as he tore the envelope. It wasn't a flashy box like a prebuilt gaming pc or a console. It was just a yellow paper envelope with a shipping receipt and a small card with instructions printed on it. The headband itself was navy blue with a steel forehead plate with the stylized shape that represented the expanse. “Lets see here…” he said as he gazed at the instruction card. “Remove The sticker from inside the headband. make sure there are no barriers between the crystalline structure and your skin. Once that is complete make sure to find somewhere comfortable so you do not develop muscle soreness. You will be insensate for approximately 1 hour after initial application.” Darion blinked and began to follow the instructions shifting his weight into the couch as he peeled back the sticker and rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead. He stared at it in his other hand before discarding the sticker onto the floor beside the couch. As he placed the headband on his forehead and began to tie it behind his head unbeknownst to him four runes glowed in the four corners of the metal plate. Darion immediately felt drowsy and then his chin dropped to his chest.
Darion awoke to darkness all around him except where a nearly nude copy of his slightly doughy body, with its shoulder acne and messy shoulder length brown hair floated peacefully in the blackness. Soon after a screen popped up in his line of sight with a ding that he perceived more than heard.
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Welcome to The expanse.
Glory and discovery await.
Do you wish to customize your appearance or skip straight to initial skill selection?
Yes. I would like to
No. skip
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Darion mentally took a breath, as much as he wanted to skip straight to skill selection he hit Yes and went into character creation. He made his body tall and athletic with straight blonde hair and blue eyes, he fixed his teeth, to his amazement this facsimile even had scars in the same places. He mentally selected to remove the linen looking boxers that hid his modesty and the body even had a scar on the upper inner thigh. It was then that he realized that if he made all these changes; it would make him seem insecure to all his coworkers that played as well. In the end Darion decided to clear up his skin, round up to six feet, tone, and tighten, but mostly keep his own features. Darion confirmed his selection and with excitement he mentally highlighted the skill selection option.
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Skill selection.
Would you like to view skill options or would you like to create a skill?
View.
Create.
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The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Darion paused in thought before querying the system. “Is my selection here final or can i go back if I don't like my options?” it was strange speaking without a body, his voice came out sounding like it had light digital distortion applied to it. A box popped up in response.
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If you do not like your options simply will your window to the opposing option
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Darion hit the skill selection list and saw 3 skills, he'd read about how there were skills and capital s Skills. At levels 1 3 and 5 a player selects a skill, and based on how the user uses their skills in conjunction at level 10 the player will receive a Class and potentially a Skill, and those were the abilities that could manifest outside of the game.
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1. Assimilate
2. Track
3. Pick pocket dimension
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Darion focused his attention on the first choice and a window opened with a more indepth skill description
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Assimilate: User forgoes assignable stat points or class based stat increases, however user can gain 5% of a slain monster's highest stat and 1%of its second highest stat so long as it is the same level or higher.
Warning: this skill will permanently affect progression.
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Darion considered the skill for a while, “It could be the Ultimate skill… if you wanted to constantly punch up, but it also meant entire areas would yield no growth after a while. Maybe if it also stole and upgraded skills… but that might be too OP. Maybe if my name was Max.”
Darion focused on the next skill.
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Track: passive, tracks and trails will shimmer in the users perception scales with perception stat. Must be passingly familiar with the target and decide to track them.
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If Darion had a nose currently he would wrinkle it. He moved onto the final skill.
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Pickpocket Dimension: active skill. If user has the prerequisite mana (1 mana per sqft)
and can conceal a non living object item from sight; the object will be sent into a pocket dimension until summoned. Mana used for this is considered reserved and not spent thus wont regenerate until the space is emptied. At which point the mana will be considered spent and may begin to generate naturally.
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Darion paused to consider what these skills said about him. “System? If I go to the skill crafting screen will I be able to return here to these skills?” another screen popped up.
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Yes these options will remain until picked or tier 1 class selection.
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Darion willed himself over to the Skill creation window and a new prompt appeared.
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Most aligned elements space and void
Choose two stats:
Strength
Constitution
Dexterity
Agility
Intelligence
Perception
Charisma
And choose a mythical creature.
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Darion decided to choose perception and dexterity. After a few more minutes of thought based on an old wuxia novel he read; he chose the mythic kun-peng. A creature known for its adaptability and ability to travel great distances quickly in air or water.
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Skill Name: Kun Peng's Void Slip
Description:
Kun Peng's Void Slip allows the user to momentarily blend into the void, creating a small, localized distortion in space. This distortion enables the user to teleport a short distance, avoiding attacks or repositioning themselves quickly.
Attributes:
- Perception: The user must focus their senses to pinpoint the exact location they want to teleport to, ensuring a precise and safe transition.
- Dexterity: The user needs to be agile and adaptable to navigate the brief period of disorientation during the teleportation process.
Element: Void/Space
Thematic Animal: Kun Peng
The Kun Peng, a mythical bird said to traverse vast distances, inspires this skill. By channeling the Kun Peng's essence, the user can tap into the void, creating a temporary wormhole to facilitate their movement.
Skill Mechanics:
- Activation: The user focuses their perception to select a target location within a short to medium range.
- Teleportation: The user briefly disappears into the void, reappearing at the chosen location.
- Cooldown: The user must wait for a short period before reactivating the skill.
- Risk: If the user's perception is disrupted during the teleportation process, they may reappear in an unintended location or suffer from temporary disorientation.
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Darion chose to accept without hesitation. A teleport skill out of the gate was amazing.
If he was able to select pickpocket dimension at level 3 and track at 7 maybe he could gain a spatial assassin class. He paused in thought imagining teleporting from roof to roof stalking his target, his weapons stored in a pocket dimension ready to strike. Or a mysterious caped burglar stalking a party through a dungeon only to swoop in with a flare of his cape and make the treasure chest vanish before teleporting away.
The darkness began to fade; and before he knew it orchestral music began to flare as a blue sky swam before his vision. His disembodied awareness swooped through forests and valleys where animals and creatures went about their life cycles. The Expanse was massive, and it all looked so… real.
Darions awareness flew over some ruins where what looked like a party fighting off some Orc looking creatures supported by some sort of goblinoid creatures. They whipped by as the flight speed increased before he flew over a large walled metropolis and then into a building where a figure lay seemingly sleeping on a cot, his last sight; his vessels sleeping face before more darkness.
Darion awoke a moment later, the experience was strange, he felt like himself. His skin itched slightly where the coarse woven fiber of his shirt touched his chest and back. He sat up and set his feet down on the stone floor which was cold. He looked at his hands and gave the skin inside his forearm a pinch, the pain was immediate but somehow muted, he bore down even then he could perceive that it hurt, but it was flat rather than sharp. He looked around the room and it looked real; a light on the ceiling, a stone floor, 3 other unoccupied cots, there was evidence that this room was maintained. other than the three cots there were no other features that stood out about this stone room except no windows. He felt slightly anxious that someone could spawn in here at any moment.
“Status.” Darion said aloud, and a window popped up in front of him, the placement and opacity seemed to be a matter of will. He toyed with the shape color placement before he focused on the contents.
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Name: Darion Glassier
Age: 25
Race: Human
Level: 1 (tier 0)
Class: N\A
HP: 15
Mp: 12
Stamina: 10
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Attributes
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Strength: 4
Constitution: 5
Dexterity: 7
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 6
Perception: 8
Charisma: 4
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Skills
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Skill Name: Kun Peng's Void Slip
Description: Kun Peng's Void Slip allows the user to momentarily blend into the void, creating a small, localized distortion in space. This distortion enables the user to teleport a short distance, avoiding attacks or repositioning themselves quickly.
Cost: 5 mana per yard
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