It's a beautiful spring day, the flowers are blooming, the people in the village are chattering. A young boy at the age of 3 opens his eyes, and smiles.
It's been three years since the Trade happened... Well, I guess I was lucky, in a sense? I was in an orphanage for around two years of my life, until my family adopted me. Guess I was one of the lucky ones?
He pulls the covers off of him, and, as it seemed like great timing.
"Luo! Come down and get your food!" Someone exclaimed. It was Luo's older sister, Jema.
"Alright! First I gotta make the covers!" Luo said. He thought to himself during the folds.
This world is interesting, to say the least. It's a Fantasy World! Never thought I'd see the day where I could be like this... Ah, right. It's been a while, but let's check the Menus again.
With a whisper, Luo spoke. "Skill Menu." And out of the air, a brown square, detailed at the sides, had icons of skills within.
I only have three skills... Resilient Mind, Which protects me from all psychological attacks. Video Game Physique, which makes my character Video Game like. For example, if I work too hard, with 15 minutes, I'm back to normal. Then, there's Strell's Gift. I'm not sure what that does, but I think it's an Active Skill. I have yet to use it though, because I never found a good time to.
(Authorial Intrusion here! Active Skills and Passive Skills are different. Active Skills need to be cast, and often use Mana, the sort of magic fuel to get the skill moving. Passive Skills are basically skills that provide a boost indefinitely, without wasting mana. Explanation, End!)
I should also take another look at my stats, maybe that'll help see where I'm at... "Stats Menu." Luo whispered. Every Stat besides INT, WIS, and LUK are all at 6. INT, WIS, and LUK are at 15 though,
wonder why?
(Another Intrusion Here. Stats are basically measurements of someone's power. Say, STR, which means Strength was at 1. You could only lift a pebble. But if it was 100, You could lift a boulder. All the names for Stats are reduced, to save room. But here is what they mean; STR means Strength, VIT means Vitality, AGI means Agility, DEX means Dexterity, INT means Intelligence, WIS means Wisdom, and LUK means Luck. You don't need to try to remember this, as I will make this apparent later as well... But it does help. Explanation... END!)
Luo finishes making the bed, and heads downstairs. He sees his father Leo and His sister Jema at the kitchen. Seems they're cooking.
"Lu- oh. There you are." Jema grabs Luo's plate of food and hands it to him. "Here's your plate of Vola Eggs and Bacon."
Luo took the plate from Jema's hand and started to dig in.
"Speaking of which, have we fed the Volas yet?" Dad asked.
"No, not yet. It's my turn and I just woke up." Luo said, eating faster. After he cleared his plate, he cleaned it, and left for the job he had to do.
Luo saw his mom, Lucy, tending to the garden.
"Hey Mom." Luo greeted.
"Hey Luo, I guess it's your turn to feed the Volas?" His mom asked.
"Yeah. How's the garden going?" Luo asked in return.
"Fine, all I have to do is water the plants. Can you hand me the bucket?" Asked Mom.
"We have a watering can, right?" Luo asked in confusion.
"I want to show you something." Mom puts her hands out in front of her. A ball of water forms in the space just in front of her hands. The water, of course, coming from the bucket.
"Whoa..." Luo said. He couldn't muster anything else.
Then, Luo's Mom split it into drops of water, and spread it through the garden.
"That's amazing!" Exclaimed Luo. "Wish I could do that."
"I used to feel the same way a long time ago... Luo... Anyone can do magic, you just have to put some effort into it. Now, shouldn't you go feed the Volas?" Mom said.
"Alright, I'll leave." Luo replied.
Luo grabbed the feed from the shed and took it over to the Volas. Volas are Chicken-Sheep sort of chimera. They lay eggs but also give wool, convenient. Luo opened the bag, and fed it to the Volas.
Alright. I should be done here. Now, as a three-year old, there isn't much that I can do... I think Mom and Dad kept a library in the house? They used to be adventurers I believe. Well, I should just go look around.
After a while walking around the house, Luo finally finds the library.
Who knew it was going to be in the basement? Well it doesn't really matter now. I've been here for a year, how did I not find this? Well... all matters aside, this place is pretty cool-looking. A bit dark, but hey, it's in a basement. Now let's have a look-see.
Luo looked around, and it something became very apparent.
I can't read any of this stuff. I don't understand these words. I know some words, but it won't help here... Wait, what's that I spot over there, in the back of the room?
Luo makes his way toward a book, decorated with gold and one purple round gem in the middle of the cover. He clears away the dust covering the book.
Whoa... This looks pretty cool... I shouldn't open the book, but when did things go wrong when I opened up a fancy book? Whatever.
Luo opens up a book, and a bunch of dust attacks his nostrils. He sneezes, but clears away the dust within.
Hm? Looks like a bunch of images... and words I don't understand... It looks like... people casting magic? Is this a spell book?
Luo flips through to the end of the book. Passing by the images and words he doesn't recognize.
Wait, what the- This part right here, this engraving... It looks like English! What? How can this... Well, let's just read it.
"Hey There Luo! I'm Strell! The guy you met in the spooky void. I enjoy going through your memories, even found things about the Internet! Anyway, I feel like I cheated you out of your deal, somewhat, so I can give you a gift here. Try to use that one skill of yours, the one aptly named Strell's Gift onto this book. After that, receive your reward, I guess. Have fun!"
Luo stood there in silence.
Well, alright. I'm guessing the skill is voice activated as well as all the other menus... alright, I'm ready.
Luo holds the closed book out in front of him, and whispers, "Strell's Gift."
The book floats out of Luo's hands, and opens by itself. Like some magical light show, orbs of light surround him, all different colors. Eventually, they go into him, into his mind, and throughout his physical body.
<>Learned Skill(s): Weapon Materialization, Skill Absorption, Item Customization, Word Arts<>
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
<>Level Up! 1 ->2 <>
Whoa. This. Is. Pretty. Cool. Weapon Materialization is pretty swell, I can make a weapon out of nowhere! Nah, not really. It costs a lot of Mana to cast, and after that, it drains Mana from me when I keep having it equipped. Skill Absorption is weird, it makes me able to gain permanent skills from eating fresh creatures or plants, or quality inorganic items. Plus, I can eat all the dangerous things I want, and it won't hurt me. Item Customization basically lets me change the aspect of anything, say, I can make a sour fruit sweet, or something. Hm, Word Arts a bit weird, I have to draw a word using my finger in English. It can only be one word, (for now anyway) doing so will do what the word says. Nice. Oh! And it also have a passive ability to translate language!
Nice, and I got a level up! I'll spend those Stat Points later, but hey, that's pretty good. I gained a whole arsenal of skills today.
Luo smiles to himself. Well, with that Passive Bonus from Word Arts, He gets set on reading some books here, and he planned to take some books up to his room as well. The first book he picked out was Intro to Spells: The Beginning.
Hm, this might help... Maybe giving this a read-through can he-
A small notification box appeared on the book
<>Would you like to learn the skill: Basic Mana Control?<>
<>Yes<> <>No<>
What- What is... Okay. Gotta calm down... this can't be. But it is! It's a skill book!
(This is the chapter of Intrusions. Skill Books are usually filled with instructions of a certain skill and such. Usually, when you press Yes, all of the knowledge in that book get sent to you, therefore, a new skill has been learned. The only downside is that the book disappears. This system is commonly placed in some RPG's. Explanation, Complete!)
Luo takes a look at the skill description.
Oh, it increases my Magic Damage and Mana Regen by 10% . It also reduces Magic Skill Cooldowns by 5% and Increases my MP Points by my level times ten. So, I'm level two, I should be receiving a 20 MP bonus. Nice, nice. Well, I saw a few copies of this book in the library, so my family probably wouldn't mind losing just one.
Luo puts his finger over the screen, and with one decisive tap, he presses the Yes Button. As soon as he did that, the words started flowing into his mind, and when all the words depleted, the book just vanished.
Nice... That's good... I feel a bit of a headache though, guess it's my brain processing the information. No matter, I'll just read two or three more books by the end of the day.
[Time Shift: Morning --> Noon]
Oh, would you look at the time? It's high noon. I'm almost finished with this book, "The Races in Aethis." There are many different races on Aethis, but there are the "Main" Races. This list should help.
Humans- The race with the most population. Humans have great adaptability, being able to live in the most hottest or coldest of places. Humans, with enough experience, can learn almost anything.
Elves- Known for their natural beauty and for their use of bows and magic. They usually seclude too themselves, but some have established settlements and kingdoms throughout the land.
Dwarves- World-Renowned Blacksmiths and Builders, they live anywhere where the ore is good. Their technology surpasses any of the other races. Since they are Dwarves, they are smaller than Humans, Elves, and Beastkin.
Fairies- Fairies live in forests, and they are around the same sizes of dwarves. Currently, they are the only race capable of using Healing Spells. Some Fairies live in seclusion, some don't.
Beastkin- Beastkin are a mixture of humans and beasts. They are incapable of using magic, but make up for it in excellent swordplay.
Well, That seems to be it for the Main Races. There are Sub-Races, like Wood Elves, or Flame Dwarves. But those get kind of lengthy, so the book really doesn't list them. Well, that was a pretty lengthy book. Guess I'm finished with this last page, and I guess I'll close the-
A small notification box appears out of nowhere.
<> You have earned 1 INT for your reading.<>
Whoa, what the... Huh? I can gain Stat points for doing random things? Another new thing I learned today. Nice. Well, Guess I'll start with the next boo-
"Sen! Lunch's ready!" Lucy said.
"Alright Mom! I'll come up." Luo responded.
That was some good timing, I finished the book on time...
Luo puts away the book from where he found it, and makes his way up the dusty stairs.
Wonder what Mom's making for lunch, maybe some Steak and Rice? I was surprised they had rice here though.
As he thought about lunch, Luo heard some unfamiliar voices through the door. He grabs the doorknob, and pushes the door open.
"Mom, I'm up-"
Luo said, stopping his sentence. He was interrupted by the sight sitting at the dining table.
"Hey Luo! Come, sit next to me. I'll introduce you to the people that came over." Mom said.
Those- those are elves! They also seem to be good friends to Mom and Dad. Wonder what they're doing here...?
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A.N. : This Chapter's all about introducing Game Mechanics to those who aren't familiar with the scene. So yeah. Also... THAT CUT OFF WAS SO BAD.