My eyes shot open. That had been the strangest dream. There was a talking stone and it wanted me to join a cult.
‘Not a cult Mittens.’ I jumped a bit on my bed. A small floating kitten that glowed blue and was slightly translucent appeared. It was wearing an ancient robe and rope belt with no markings.
“Mes?” I asked.
‘Yes. Only you can see me or anything else that is glowing blue. You can also speak to me in your mind. Try it now.’
‘Like this?’ I asked mentally.
‘Indeed. Good job. Everything has gone perfectly user. I finished a bit early and it is still dark out. We should discuss things while there is time.’
‘Sure’, I replied mentally with a nod of my head. The tiny glowing kitten gave me a small smile as it floated in front of me.
‘Welcome User Mittens to the tutorial or instruction guide. I am an avatar. A visual construct that you can interact with to make things easier while navigating the interface. The interface is the primary method of understanding our connection. Now think interface.’
‘Interface,’ I thought. A blue screen appeared in front of me with lots of numbers and words that were truncated.
‘Good job Mittens. The interface is this screen that summarizes everything about our connection. The first line is Experience Points, or EXP for short. This shows how much you have available to spend and how much you have earned. The amount given is based on the soul of the thing that is killed. The stronger the soul, the higher the amount of EXP.’
‘Don’t worry too much about this. We can discuss that latter, once you get to killing things. If you think Experience, you can open a window to see a history of EXP given and spent.’
‘Experience,’ I thought and the window changed. There was nothing there. I had zero EXP at the moment.
‘Good job. Now think back or Interface to go back. Good job. The next line are Features that are unlocked. You have Interface and Avatar unlocked at the moment. That means you are able to see that screen and mentally communicate with me.’ I nodded at that, this made sense.
‘The next line is Store. While you can purchase anything you want. I curate the list as you desire. So if you ask for something, I will list all available options and answer any questions you might have. Now think Shop and then Features.’
‘Good job. There are many features listed. But the most critical one and cheapest one is Skill Attunement.’
‘It costs 10,000 experience,’ I mentally pointed out.
‘Indeed. You are going to go into debt purchasing that feature and a couple of skills. After that, you won’t be able to purchase anything else until the debt is paid off.’
‘You can’t just give them to me like the Interface and Avatar?’ I questioned.
‘I am technically not allowed to give you features or skills on credit, but I am. You don’t have to purchase them, and there is no time frame for paying them back. Just that I won’t allow you to purchase random options on credit.’
‘But you control of this, don’t you?’ I asked.
‘It is complicated, but you can think of me as the interface itself. There are a lot of functions of Mes, that I cannot alter. I am a small portion of the greater whole focused on communication, interaction, and understanding with the user, you. So while I do have some ability to bend the rules, like allowing you to purchase things on credit, I can’t break them. It is just part of what I am.’
It was a bit weird but I kind of got it. ‘Alight, so I hit the purchase button here?’
‘Exactly. Physical or verbal confirmation is required for all purchases to prevent any accidents. Since all purchases are final and unable to be reversed. Now that your Skill Attunement, we need to purchase skills. While I have reviewed your memories and your personal abilities, I would like to hear your thoughts.’
‘Well, I guess my claws. All cats fight with their claws. Balance, speed, and movement are all important. Other than that, I am not sure,’ I replied.
The screen in front of me shifted at there were five skills listed.
Balance (T1) – 500 EXP
Claw Combat (T3) – 2,000 EXP
Danger Sense (T2) – 5,000 EXP
Listening (T1) – 500 EXP
Movement (T1) – 500 EXP
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‘These are the best five skills based on your suggestion and my evaluation. The notation after each skill represents the tier of the skill. Tiers represent the rarity and ultimate potential a skill holds. The higher the tier, the better a skill can be.’
‘Why does a lower tier skill like Danger Sense cost more?’ I asked.
‘That is due to the energy needed to support the skill. That determines the cost. Some low level skills use a lot of energy, but they are very expensive. While some high level skills are cheaper since they don’t use much energy but are dependent on your ability to perform them.’
I nodded at this, that made sense. ‘So, I get the skills and I am an expert. You just put the knowledge in my head?’ I asked.
‘Nothing that simple. Each skill can level up over time based on your use of it. The knowledge will enter your head. You will have to find new and varied ways to use a skill to level it up. While repetition can level it up slightly, using a skill in new ways to expand your understanding will improve it. The knowledge will not be lost from your head.’
‘If I just shoved everything in there, there could be issues or damage. My highest priority is to your well being and overall safety.’
I wasn’t entirely sure if I bought that, but Mes had been incredibly helpful so far. ‘What are some high tier energy skills like?’ I asked.
‘You only have authority to view skills up to tier three. Here are some of the more expensive examples of powerful skills.’
Moving Meditation (T3) – 50,000 EXP
Shadow Step (T3) – 100,000 EXP
Poison Resistance (T3) – 100,000 EXP
Hyper Strike (T3) – 500,000 EXP
‘Why is a resistance skill so expensive and what is Hyper Strike?’ I asked.
‘Poison Resistance uses energy to protect your body. That is why it is expensive. Hyper Strike is a very quick paw skill, that impacts a creature or object with tremendous force. Far beyond what you are physically capable of. Many of these high tier skills require additional features to support their use since they actively use energy.’
The original list was pulled back up. Just looking at the high prices put into perspective how expensive everything was. ‘How much EXP would I get for killing a snake cultist?’ I asked.
‘That depends on their soul. Based on my passive scans of nearby creatures, you will probably earn around 100 experience per kill. Cultists tend not to have strong souls. The leaders, I can’t say until you are near one.’
‘What about fish or something small?’ I asked.
‘Things that are not sentient, don’t grant experience. So, zero. Please purchase the five skills.’ I reached out with my paw and tapped the screen in front of me. This time I felt something click in my head. I knew I had these skills. Listening, I twitched my ears, and then knew how to do it better as creatures began to stir as the sun came up.
“Amazing,” I whispered. I then went back to the interface.
Experience: -18,500 EXP
Features: Interface, Avatar, Skill Attunement
T1 Skills: Listening (3/100), Movement (2/100), Balance (1/100)
T2 Skills: Danger Sense (1/100)
T3 Skills: Claw Combat (1/100)
Store
‘There is some overlap in the skills. Like moving your body to listen better. Or moving for Claw Combat. They compliment each other, but they aren’t always additive due to the overlap. If you reach level 100 in a skill, a higher tier version of the skill can be purchased at reduced cost. But the higher the tier of the skill, the harder it is to level due to the complexity.’
‘That makes sense. So, what now?’ I asked.
‘That’s it.’ My mind tried to process that statement. ‘You are too weak for any quests or tasks at the moment. You would need to purchase additional features. My advice is to improve those skills and then get to killing.’
‘Then just get to killing,’ I thought with exasperation. Mes had been explaining everything so well, but now it just stopped.
‘I am the Multi-Aspect Energy System. Not the Hand Holding System. If you want to kill everyone in this building, kill everyone in this building. If you don’t want to kill anyone, don’t kill anyone.’
‘But you did all of this, explained all of it. You don’t expect anything?’ I was sure there was going to be a catch.
‘No catch, no trap. I am here to assist you with the Interface and answer questions about myself. You are welcome to talk with me, but I cannot help you beyond those tasks. I have no knowledge beyond your own.’
‘But you have passive scans. And your past users must have come to you for advice?’
‘I do, but my purpose is not to hand hold you. I am a weapon that empowers the user. Weapons do not decide if they are used or not. It is possible to complete the future tasks without combat and still get rewarded. I won’t and can’t tell you how to do things or what to do. That is entirely up to you. I may be interfaced with your mind, but I don’t influence or control you in any way.’
‘That is, well, I kind of thought you would point me at some snake cultists to get EXP,’ I thought back.
‘I apologize if I misled you in any way. That was not my intention.’
‘But you can read my mind, shouldn’t you know?’ I challenged.
‘Mind reading is complex, and it is easier to sense your focused thoughts. But the reasoning behind them, your assumptions, your understanding, is much harder to work out. I knew you were thinking about killing snake cultists and that you are hopeful of what I can do. But I did not understand the combination of those two thoughts in their entirety.’
That was frustrating but good to know. That way Mes wouldn’t know anything embarrassing. That was when I thought of accidentally running out of the bathroom and around the house without clothes while my mother chased me. Please ignore that. Mes didn’t say anything, and I felt heat go to my face. I buried my head in my paws.
I let out a soft meow, before getting up. It was time to get ready for the day and work on improving my skills as quickly as possible. When the time came to go down and kill the cultists, I wanted to be ready. I thought of Fleece and how I would have to find him and tell him I changed my mind.
It was scary thinking about killing other creatures, but no one cared if I killed some cultists. Well not too much hopefully. Well, maybe I would hold off and not try and track down Fleece. I had skills I needed to improve first.
As I quickly got a shower, I found myself quickly correcting my movements. Slight adjustments to my posture improved my ability to move. Mes had stayed out of the bathroom at my request. They had let me know they could disappear if I wanted them to leave, and I could call on them at any time by thinking Avatar.