Josef was already in the sitting room investigating his Interface and taking notes with an illegible scrawl. Deciding not to bother the guy, Ryan settled on the couch with a cup of coffee and called up his first achievement.
Achievement: First Kill (Epic); Achievement earned by first Player to kill an enemy after world has been initiated into the System. Please choose one of the following Skills: Portal/Dimensional Shift/Shield.
Trying to find information on any of the three choices proved to be in vain, the help menu provided no information whatsoever. Ryan considered the choices, based on the wording of the skill alone. Portal would probably allow him to create a portal allowing movement from one place to the other. It sounded immensely useful, but he suspected it would not allow him to portal to Windhoek at this stage. At a low level it would be unreasonable to expect that it had great range, he also suspected that portals were conditional on having visited a place, probably after system initiation.
Dimensional Shift was self-explanatory, it would most likely allow him to move himself or an object from one location to another. He assumed that it would be limited in range. Portals would likely be stationary and could probably be used by other Players whereas Shift would only allow a once-off movement. He suspected that Portal was more geared to utility while Shift would have clear combat applications.
Shield was less clear. Ryan considered that he would eventually generate a significant shield automatically so choosing it as a Skill might mean a stronger shield cast intentionally, possibly on other Players. It would most likely have combat applications, protecting himself from damage.
Deliberating on the choices, Ryan ruled out Portal quickly. His primary concern for the moment was to find his brother and by necessity survive the hike to Windhoek. This necessitated a choice increasing his survivability. He initially leaned towards Shield, but after further consideration Dimensional Shift seemed to be the better option, given his lack of any information on the Skills themselves. Shift would have both defensive and offensive use whereas Shield was likely purely defensive. In addition, not knowing how strong the shield would be concerned him, it likely would be better to avoid damage entirely with Shift than tanking it with Shield.
He hesitated a bit longer and chose Dimensional Shift, immediately selecting it and reading the description.
Skill Dimensional Shift (Epic), Novice Level 1: On activation allows Player to fold space and move from one point to another instantaneously, no cooldown, at Novice level costs 750 energy to use, line of sight.
This he had to try. Ryan focused on the Skill, trying to shift to Johannes. Nada. He focused, clearly thinking Dimensional Shift, focusing on the spot in front of Johannes. Zilch. Cast Dimensional Shift. Nothing. He spoke out loud, focusing on what he wanted. Forget it. He tried selecting the Skill, absolutely nothing. Ryan checked his Energy reserve, 989 points, so that wasn’t the problem either. Nonplussed, he decided on checking whether the Skill appeared in his Skill list.
Looking at his Character Sheet, he saw that there was now one Special Skill listed, opening the tab showed that it was indeed Dimensional Shift. So he had the Skill, but couldn’t figure out how to use it. He decided to have a look at his general skills to see if he could solve the issue. “Jikes!” expanding the list was a nightmarish experience. An endless list appeared, no apparent organisation to it. Ryan scrolled a bit, looking at the listed skills. Breathing, swimming, running, blinking were listed amongst many others. But those were things he just did. How did that compare to Dimensional Shift?
A moment later Ryan smacked his forehead, he had found a common thread. These were all instinctual actions or actions he had trained to be able to perform. The list did not differ between voluntary, involuntary, trained or instinctual actions, apparently they were all considered Skills. He searched for Archery in the list and found out that he was rated as an Adept at Level 71, conversely, investigating blinking gave him neither Rank nor Level for the Skill. So, trained Skills were ranked and had a level and untrained Skills didn’t. This made Dimensional Shift a trainable Skill, time to consult the Help Menu.
Skills: Skills can be found in the Character Menu under the skill list* and describe the actions a Player can take. Skills are rated according to rarity from Common, Uncommon, Rare and Epic through to Legendary. A Player’s level in a Skill reflects their demonstrated understanding of the use of the Skill and is normally ranked through Novice, Journeyman, Adept, Expert, and Master through to Grandmaster. The Interface provides initial training free of charge for Skills acquired from the System, whether as part of a Class or a Profession, whether purchased or as a reward. Players can elect to purchase further training once they have mastered the concepts appropriate to their rank. Please be advised that under the Games Protocol Players can only purchase Skills and training for Skills that are related to their chosen Professions and Classes or which have been granted as a reward. *Player John John Johnson has lodged a complaint with regards to the Skill list. The complaint is currently being investigated.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
While enlightening, this didn’t directly help Ryan so he searched for Skill Training to figure out how to train a Skill granted by the System.
Skill Training: Skills that are eligible for Interface assisted training are disabled until such time as the Player consciously choses to train the Skill. Players are advised to retire to a secure location and find a comfortable position before commencing training. Motor-functions will be disabled during training and elapsed time may vary significantly. To initiate Skill Training select the eligible Skill with the intent to receive training.
“Finally” Ryan thought, made himself comfortable on the couch, said “Here we go” and selected the Skill. He would have screamed if possible as it felt as if a half-melted drill was viciously boring into his skull at high speed. His brain was sublimating and the pressure was finding no outlet. Esoteric mathematical concepts were hijacking his thought processes, rewriting neural pathways. Concepts of space and time, theorems on relativity, knowledge of higher dimensions and scientific theories explaining sub- and hyper-space percolated through his memories. Eons later the information crystallised. Ryan remembered how to apply his thoughts and his will, expressing his energy via his new cell clusters just so, forcibly ripping open a tunnel through space and shifting through.
He woke up groaning, near delirious. His throat was parched and his head was throbbing. His arm also hurt like the devil had chewed on it. Josefina was sitting next to him and frowning, the stark planes of her face thrown into relief by candlelight. “What the fuck did you do?” was not the greeting he had expected. Apparently saying “Here we go” and collapsing into unconsciousness for eleven hours was sufficient reason to blame him for worrying everyone else.
Incoherently Ryan explained that he had received and trained a Skill from the System. Josefina very clearly didn’t understand what he was trying to convey and made to wake Johannes who was sleeping on the next couch over. Ryan managed to grab her hand and stop her, insisting he was okay and that there was no need to interrupt anyone else’s sleep. To prove his words no lie he got up, still somewhat unsteady, and left for the kitchen. Josefina followed him with the candle in hand. Several glasses of water and some cookies later Ryan felt approximately human again.
Josefina was still fussing, so he reiterated that he was fine, but had not expected the intensity of the training. “Sure as hell hope it’s not like that every time!” he thought before insisting that Josefina go sleep. Confirming the time in the interface showing near morning, he decided to stay awake and continue with his previous course of action. He returned to the sitting room where Josefina left him the candle and headed off to bed, leaving Ryan alone with his Interface and the snoring roommate.
Achievement: Sneaky Bastard (Common); Achievement earned when Player first kills and unaware enemy with one attack. Player can choose to raise one of the following Main Stats by 1 point: Agility/ Dexterity/ Perception.
The choice proved easy, Ryan selected Perception to confirm whether it would raise the Sub-stat that he couldn’t allocate any points to. Riding along with the Interface as the changes were applied deepened his prior understanding by a minuscule amount. What bothered him was that he could observe a nebulous grey area close to his frontal cortex where he could vaguely feel changes being applied without any understanding being granted. He received confirmation of his initial supposition when all three Sub-stats increased by a single point.
Achievement: David vs. Goliath (Rare); Achievement earned when Player kills an enemy 5 or more levels above him with a single attack without taking any damage. Please choose one of the following Profession Skills: Imbue/Refine/Absorb.
Once again Ryan had only a vague idea what each Skill could possibly achieve, however, considering that they were related to Professions, he decided selecting his Profession first would be the wiser course of action. That was unless, of course, selecting the Skill might open different choices. Nonetheless, it would be prudent to investigate his options first.
Before doing so however he continued to his last achievement, seeing if he could determine what choices it provided.
Achievement: Hat-trick (Legendary); Achievement earned if Player earns three Achievements after a world has been first initiated before any other Player earns a single Achievement. Upgraded to legendary due to combined rarity levels of the three achievements earned. Please choose one of the following Traits: Indomitable/Inexorable/Protean
“Huh?” Ryan had a vague idea what each of the terms meant, but considered that he would need to look up their definition in the dictionary to make certain before making a choice. Quickly initiating a search in the Help Menu to get clarity on Traits gave him no result. The Help Menu was silent on the issue. After he confirmed his understanding of the definitions by means of a dictionary he was at a loss on how to proceed with making a choice.
Ryan understood that he was incredibly lucky to have earned a legendary achievement at this stage and that the reward would probably prove immensely helpful. What he lacked knowledge about was what a trait would do and what it would mean for him. What effect would either trait have on his path? How pervasive would the changes prove? Would they immutably change him, possibly forever? And, how long would he be unconscious this time?
Lacking the courage to immediately make the choice and being prudent enough to recognise the need for supervision when making it he postponed the choice for now.