image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/6707db1f-3b87-4067-9b87-1baf836b0f04/0_3.png]
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New Reality: 23 February 1525, Northern Italy.
Playing with the device would wait, Ardent decided. Assessing his new powers was the top priority. Thinking 'Status' made a half-transparent text erupt in his sight. After jerking from the strangeness of the sensation, he concentrated on the words.
IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:
Due to unforeseen factors, you are now a carrier of the Combat and Infiltration Prototype System for Extreme Environments and able to receive enhancements to your body and mind. If your personal beliefs are offended by this occurrence, please say aloud: UNINSTALL THE SYSTEM after you've read this message. Allowing the installment to continue will make the process irreversible.
"You're kidding me. What kind of moron rejects powers?" Ardent laughed.
The System has taken notice of your consent. Proceeding with Installation. Pre-industrial culture detected. Adjusting accordingly. Additional knowledge is now downloading directly into your mind. Please sit down to avoid headaches and disorientation.
A brief sensation of vertigo was all Ardent experienced. It held for about ten seconds, and then all of a sudden, he knew a lot of new terms. Gaining instant knowledge was better than going to school, a torture his adoptive father had tried to impose on him for a year, so he grinned in satisfaction.
Disclaimer: The System will help you acquire and develop various abilities related to skills, spells, or knowledge. You can think of it like an interactive magic book directly stored in your mind. During the first day, it increases your dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin levels to help you be calm and concentrate.
What the fuck is that? Ardent asked himself for a second but hurried to read the next lines because the text was scrolling up.
Recalibrating… The System will release a few magic potions into your body to help you cope with the awakening.
Why didn't you say so in the first place?
A reminder of a few basic notions:
Class: Your main profession or job. While nothing stops you from learning and practicing jobs the normal way, advanced use of magic requires a System or equivalent structures. Classes are rated in Ranks, from Common, the lowest, to Supreme, the highest. This reflects the challenges and the rarity of the job.
Levels: A logarithmic rating—
"Sorry?" Ardent mumbled.
Recalibrating… An estimation of the development of your class, going from 1 to 100. Gain experience through quests, practice, and combat to increase your performance.
Abilities (Passives, Skills, or Spells): Your Competencies. Like Classes, the most advanced Abilities need the System or a similar construct. Abilities are rated in Grades, from Common (F) to Supreme (S). As for Classes, the rating reflects their rareness and difficulty.
Your proficiency in a specific ability is rated in Tiers, from F to S. Unlike the Classes' Ranks or the abilities' Grades, Tiers can be increased through practice.
Stats: An estimation of your Mind and Body performance, measured in Attribute Points, going from 1 to 100. The average stat for a normal unclassed person is 10. Limited to six categories for practical reasons, stats are only an approximation of your potential. The same STRENGTH number will have a different meaning for a librarian who carries books than for a warrior who battles every day.
Duh! I would never have guessed. C'mon.
Mana: The fifth force of the… Recalibrating. The energy that feeds magic.
Personal Information:
Name: Ardent the Morlako Age: 21
Hey, that's neat! I finally found out how old I am.
Title: System's Champion. Main Quest unlocked: Bring stability to the new alternate reality and make your Realm join the System. Important: Your new Reality is situated beyond the quadrant directly controlled by the System. It will be up to you to ensure your Realm joins the Greatest Civilization of the Multiverse (aka The System). The iteration you carry is a prototype specifically meant for undercover missions in hostile and extreme environments, and it spreads through direct Karmic influence. Think about it as a Vaccine against Dark Magic, that propagates itself like a Virus. Grow, and Conquer, Champion!
Class: Jack of All Trades (Supreme Rank). A Legendary class that appears in 1/100.000.000 System users. Class motto: Synergy is Key. You can learn skills and spells from any Physical or Magical School, but as a Trade-off, some of the more advanced feats will remain beyond your reach (to be determined).
Important: Like every restriction, this Trade-off is not an arbitrary limitation but is related to objective factors like the amount of Mana your Body and Mind can process, dangerous interactions between Schools of Magic (avoided by default by normal classes), and the specificity of your customized build.
Class Unique Passive: Stats Synergy (Supreme Grade), starting at Tier E. The Stats Synergy will allow the Jack of All Trades to pair up stats for better performance. Example: WIL+CON will increase resistance to pain, INT+DEX your ranged accuracy, etc. The overall performance is currently augmented by 5%, but it can be raised to 25% through training. Trade-off: Tier-S unachievable.
You receive 1 auto-allocated Attribute Point (AP) in every stat every five levels, and 1 free AP per level to invest in a stat of your choice.
You receive 2 Ability Tokens (ATs) every ten levels, which you can spend to acquire new skills or spells. On rare occasions, ATs can be obtained through Quests or various feats of Heroics.
This iteration of the System allows you to gain Fate Points through quests and heroic feats. Fate Points are concentrated packages of karmic exotic energy that can be used to: advance a skill or a spell to the next tier, buy Attribute Points or Ability Tokens, grant the System to a person of your choice (if they're compatible), Rezz yourself or a person of your choice, and various applications that depend on the context. Fate Points can be gifted away, but only among those with A or S-Rank classes.
Important: While anyone can be rezzed by a powerful Healer-type magician, the Ranks A and S classes of this System Iteration (Epic and Legendary) have access to Rezz as a passive ability. If you perish, you will be revived in the safest nearby location as long you have a Fate Point in store. This will apply only to combat or accidental demises. Natural causes (old age) or suicide will not trigger this effect.
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I suppose rezz means resurrect. Neat… Except if you get cuckoo afterward, like the king…
Current Stats
Body: STR: 20 / DEX: 26 / CON: 20
Mind: INT: 12 / WIL: 18 / CHA: 20
The weirdest thing of all was that all those majuscules made sense in his mind, and he knew exactly what they meant.
Important: By creating a new reality, you have obtained enough XP to start at Lvl. 10. You have 10 APs to distribute and two Ability Tokens to invest. You have gained 15% XP toward the next level.
Important: For starting a New Reality, you receive 10 Fate Points.
Important: Every stat has thresholds at every 25 points, and reaching them enhances your performance. The rewards for crossing a threshold are bespoke, depending on your previous feats and class, and will influence your overall build.
DEXTERITY first threshold met. Passive ability unlocked: Cat's Reflexes (Supreme Grade, Supreme Tier). Your reaction time is five times of a normal human and au pair with a cat. Increases Crit Damage: Your hits will have a: your DEX – opponent DEX % chance to crit for 50% plus damage. Synergizes with STR and adds a + 5% damage to all your successful physical hits (this percentage can be increased by training Stats Synergy).
It took Ardent only a few seconds of thinking, before investing five APs in Constitution, two in WIL, and three in INT.
You have reached the first threshold in CONSTITUTION. Tough Cookie Passive (Supreme Grade, Supreme Tier) obtained. Your body is now reinforced at a molecular level, having an overall resistance equivalent to a medium leather armor (internal organs included). You are 50% more resistant to small firearms and melee weapons. You regenerate your HP (Health Points) at a rate of 1%/minute. Immunity to most diseases and weak poisons and venoms.
Warning: Hits to the vital organs (brain, heart, lungs) will take out thrice the amount of HP. If more than 50% percent of the functionality of a vital organ is destroyed, it is considered a lethal hit.
Important: For your class, the Health Points are (STR+DEX+CON) x 10. Current HP: 710. Average human HP: 100.
No kidding… Fuck, that's nice… Err… What the heck is that?
A new notification had appeared, and it was disconcerting.
The System detects quirks in your threshold passives… Analyzing. Please wait.
I'm sick or something? Ardent started to worry A minute later, the next information arrived:
Important: Your Passives have been confirmed to be correct, yet atypical, having double the normal value they should have. The System estimates that your world has an extreme environment, explaining these occurrences.
So, all is well and I'm stronger, right?
Another warning about keeping still and sitting down followed, telling Ardent he was going through an evaluation of the skills he already had.
You have received an upgrade to the uncommon skillsets: Fencing, Artillery, Rifles, Handguns, Sniping, and Wrestling. This includes knowledge about new weapons that your Realm is not aware of. Average overall tier: B. Train more to increase your tier.
"Wow!" Ardent exclaimed, inspecting the new knowledge in his head. "Blasters? The future's weapons are so cool!"
Skills installed by default:
Basic Smartphone Use Passive – Common Grade, starts at tier F. Allows you to understand how to operate the Special Forces Infiltrator Smartphone prototype.
Basic Reading and Calculus Passive, up to the 4th grade of Elementary School – Common Grade, starts at tier A.
The System is so great! Ardent beamed with joy. Thank goodness I ran away from school…
Inspect – Uncommon Grade, starts at tier F. Range: eyesight. Offers basic information about your environment. Displays people's classes and levels, if they're not hidden by spells or privacy settings. Consumes 5 MP/sec.
Universal Translator Passive – Rare Grade, starts at tier F. A package with the most frequent languages of this Quadrant. Activates only when the user is not familiar with the language spoken. The voices and inflections the user hears will be the same as the original. If subjected to an unknown language for a moderate amount of time, the Universal Translator will switch to active mode (5MP/sec) and decipher it within a reasonable amount of time.
Throwing an Inspect around, Ardent checked the others. Leo was a Genius, Donnie a Lifemancer, as he had advertised, and Mikey a Renaissance Man. From just outside the entrance in the tent he could see Ralphy's tag: Ninja, bright letters penetrating through the fabric. Francis was a Scholar. Most were level five, with Donnie being seven. Salvatore's class was hidden, but a title hung over his head: Index Case System Progenitor.
You have unlocked your first Magical ability and have now access to your Mana Points (WIL+INT+CHA)x10. Current value: 550. Spells consume MP, can be channeled or cast instantly, and be applied through touch, throwing, thinking, vocalizing, and many other methods.
When he had increased his physical stats, there had been a pleasant sensation, like he was rejuvenated. Now, a terrible headache hit. Magic was… new. He forced himself to go over the pain because there were many things around to ask about. "How are you only level seven, if you're doing magic for so long?" Ardent addressed Donnie.
"Levels are assigned only after the System appears, and while stats are granted retroactively, XP isn't," the man explained.
Ardent swallowed the next question, about how Francis acquired the Scholar class. The king's eyes, glued to the screen of the black device, explained everything. He shrugged and went on to the list of abilities he could purchase. It was very long, but not many options were selectable, needing higher stats. He expanded the Magical options.
Do you wish to see all the spells known to the System (10.000) or the available options as per your current stats?
"Available options, please," Ardent sighed.
Minor Healing – Rare Grade, starts at tier F. Life Magic School. A prerequisite for more advanced spells. Channeled. Restores 2.5 HP/second in exchange for 5 MP/s.
Minor Mana Bolt – Rare Grade, starts at tier F. Combative Magic School. A prerequisite for advanced Elemental Magic spells. Instant. 3 seconds Cool Down. Cost: 40 MP/use. Does minor damage. Range: 20 yards.
Persuasion/Intimidation – Rare Grade, starts at tier F. Mind Magic School. You have a +15% chance to convince other people to follow your ideas, either through niceness or duress. Instant. Cost: 100 MP per application. Cannot be reapplied to the same target in the next 24 hours. This spell replicates the natural effects of high Charisma, allowing you to invest your Attribute Points in other Stats.
Nah, a kick to the balls is enough persuasion.
The list went on but he dismissed it and went for Minor Healing, postponing other choices until he could have a better idea about their usefulness. And now, it was time to look at the black device. Again, there was an instinct telling him how to operate it and he got the hang of it in no time.
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A few hours later, as morning approached, Ardent raised his eyes from the screen, dizzy from the abundance of new information. The four Renaissance geniuses and Salvatore—now sober—debated energetically, waving their hands. Concentrating on the discussion, he managed to grasp a few words.
"Why the fuck did you hire such an idiot?" Mickey was saying.
"He was recommended as being trustworthy and competent," Salvatore replied. "The part about being a hothead had not been mentioned..."
Mickey noticed Ardent's gaze and frowned, meaning: you took me by surprise, but I'll take my revenge one day. Aside, the king was still preoccupied with the screen.
"Ahum," Ardent cleared his voice. "Listen, fellows, I have an idea for winning the battle." Even if he had spoken softly, everyone turned toward him, and silence fell around. "The first step is to ensure we don't lose."
"No kidding, genius," Mickey rolled his eyes. "I say we arm the Black Bands with the new rifles, put them on the park's walls, block the sortie from the south with the lancers, and make our cavalry ambush their main attack from the rear. If only Francis would be reasonable to give me command…"
"I say we parley," Francis said. "We tell them we know their plan, and we wish for world peace. They'll see reason and retreat."
"It's a good idea," Ardent nodded. "That's what I thought too. Their army is on the last legs, with no money, and no food. I volunteer to be your ambassador, my liege."
"Of course, son, of course." The monarch's face lightened, his happiness showing like he was a puppy receiving a treat. "I'll write you an official letter… Ah, and by the way, I'm appointing you a count. Or should it be a duke? Let's stick to Knight for now. I'll skip the formalities, but we don't tell anyone. Shush!" The King put his finger over his lips.
Ardent walked his eyes around. He could read what the others thought. Salvatore was befuddled, the rest a bit disappointed, and Mickey angry, his muscles fretting like a horse before the start of a race. He would have jumped at the younger man on the spot, if not for the fear that the sovereign would call for his guards. Or to be humiliated again, that thought was there too.
"Good," the condottiere nodded. "I just need to choose a second spell, and we can rock and roll… I mean go. Is there a way to switch off these weird expressions from my head?"
"Sure," Salvatore said. "Think Settings, then Language, and switch it to hybrid mode. That would allow your dialect's finer nuances to be reflected accurately."
"Oh, thank goodness," Ardent sighed with relief. "I was so anguished my dick was starting to break into fourteen parts."
"What a colorful expression. Can't wait to learn more about your culture," Mickey said, sarcasm painted all over him, from his grin to his crossed arms. Ardent refrained from more violence and just showed him the middle finger.