Novels2Search
The NU Demon
Chapter 14: Orientation and Registration Part 2

Chapter 14: Orientation and Registration Part 2

"Alright, part two of three. After this we will take a twenty minute break before the final section." Demesa says as she clicks onto the next bullet point slide.

"First off, the system interface is similar, but not exactly the same for everyone. Some people may have their stats in a different order, or a different color scheme. The list goes on, but generally it's divided into four pages, those being stats, spells and magic, skills, and the store. We will get to the store in a little bit. There is also a separate page for class selection, but it only appears when you need to select a class and overlaps the store page, so it's officially considered part of the store. First is your stats." Demesa says before pausing to make sure everyone is paying attention.

"The system leaves out a few things in regard to your stats and how they interact with one another. When you put a point into a stat it goes up by one right? That one point is a flat increase, meaning the difference between twenty and twenty one is the same as the difference between fifty and fifty one. What it doesn't tell you is that putting that point into one stats has a small, unlisted, increase in the others to help keep up. What this means is that when you put a point into strength, all your other stats go up slightly to help compensate for you being stronger, you will be slightly faster, perceptive, smarter, etc… However, this increase is nowhere near a full point and is actually not enough to keep up in the long run if you focus on only one stat.

"If you put all your points into, let's say one hundred into strength. The rest of your body won't be able to keep up with your muscles. You will be tired all the time, unable to properly control that strength, move sluggishly compared to others at your level, the list goes on. This effect is why you see high level mages able to move at speeds similar to a medium to low level agility user. Likewise melee based combatants will be able to throw spells on par with lower level mages. It should be noted that this extra boost to attunement does not affect your maximum mana capacity. It is suspect that this is because the power level increase effect on max mana overrides it in a way. Any questions?" Demesa asks while giving some dude a slide glare as he tries desperately not to fall asleep in his chair.

When no one raises their hand or speaks up she continues.

"According to research, one needs to put at least one point into all the other stats for every forty two you put into your main stat. That's if you choose to go that route, it should be noted that balancing out stats and being well rounded is a perfectly acceptable means of doing it as well. It's honestly a balancing act, you may be more powerful if you have all your points in one field, but you're more vulnerable when you run into your counter." Desema explains, causing a few people to express confusion, myself included.

"Fine then, I can see the confusion so I'll explain. Sometimes demons, creatures, or on very rare occasions other people will have extreme resistance or even total immunity to a given attack type. We have seen demons summoning wraiths in combat, which are completely immune to physical attacks due to their incorporeal nature. A pure strength user is going to have a very hard time fighting that if they even can at all. However, someone with an all rounder build will be able to throw spells at it, just not as well as a mage could." Demesa finishes, only for the man directly in front of me to raise his hand.

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"What is it, Mr. Willy?" She asks him.

"Wouldn't a strength based user still have a few spells or skills that could damage it?" He asks.

"Yes, you may not have enough mana to cast enough to kill it. Or, if you're using spells outside your focus area, they may only do just enough damage to piss it off. Sure if you're skilled enough you could probably handle it, but one wrong move might leave you fucked. Take it from me." She says as she reaches her right hand up her left sleeve and a clicking noise follows.

"When you encounter an enemy who can just ignore all your offensive tools. You are absolutely going to have a shity day!" She basically yells as she pulls her freaking left arm off and starts waving it at us! After a moment I realize that there is no way that is her real arm and calm down. But around me I hear chairs and desks shift as people recoil and one lady even faints.

She stops her waving and reveals the end to us to show a bunch of connectors and circuitry.

"You like it? Newest model from Calmark Med Enterprises. Lifelike and indiscernible from the real thing aside from the connection point, which is easily hidden beneath clothing." She says with a smirk as she shoves her arm back up her sleeve and reattached it with another click sound.

"That was fun, I've been waiting to try it on someone. Oh that reminds me, stats do not apply to prosthetics or bodily attachments. Meaning this arm does not benefit from my increased strength, agility, endurance, the works. Also you can not cast magic though a prosthetic. If I tried to cast a spell though this arm it would pop out the nub and damage or destroy the prosthetic. So yea, if you plan to go into a combat career against demons, do not get your arm chomped off. Any questions?" No one dared ask anything, two guys were still trying to help the poor woman back into her seat.

"Good, now onto the shop and class portion." She says as she clicks to the next slide.

"Staring with the shop, you unlock it at five hundred power level. That may sound like a lot and it both is and isn't. We get roughly between two and four lower levels a week just for keeping alive. This means that if you got access to the system at the one hundred power level minimum it would take you between two and a half to five years to unlock shop access by doing nothing. You can accelerate this process by being near demons and people as they die. When living creatures die they release essence which is absorbed by other living creatures nearby. Yes you can get more powerful from others' deaths, no you can't go around killing people. Murder is illegal, and you will be dealt with in a permanent manner." Demesa says, her voice taking a mean edge at the end to communicate that that's a very bad idea.

"Once the shop is unlocked you start with ten shop points and gain ten more every thousand power level mark. You can use these points to buy spells, magic, and skills. Some are more expensive than others. Some may require you to save up for a while to buy them. Before you select your class the shop will have a random assortment available. After getting your class the selections it presents will be more focused on your class with a few other similar options branching out."

"Now onto class. You also unlock your class at five hundred power level. It says it presents selection based on what you do up to that point. I don't want to say that's bullshit, but no one has been able to discover any links between anything and class offerings, so assume it will be completely random. You will get anywhere from three to seven classes offered for your first time. You will then get offered a new class or class upgrade every ten thousand point milestone after that."

"The system tells you all this when you get the shop, but we find it's better to inform people ahead of time, especially on the class selection. Too many people have wasted so much time trying things to get a particular class. Any questions? No? Good. We are taking a twenty minute break then we will do the final part. Oh, and one of the handouts has information on the average starting stats for each sex. Make sure you look so you can get an idea of where you stand." She says as she steps away.