The Comprehensive and Concise Guide to Ranking by Chezly Falthrick
A Summary of Rankings and Their Associated Milestones
> Rank levels are determined by the qualitative difference in one’s soul nexus upon achieving/reaching specific milestones. The rank system was implemented, presumably, by beings who reached Rank 15 (gained spiritual/soul awareness) and studied their junior’s progress.
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> None of the steps can be “skipped”, however it is possible for milestones to be completed out of order. In some cases, completing a milestone out of order can make advancement more difficult. In others, it makes it simpler.
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> It is important to note that the previously mentioned qualitative difference in soul nexus does not take effect until any prerequisites are met first.
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> For example: Someone might create three insights in Rank 1 and conceptually link them all. This will not immediately send them to rank 2. If they haven’t developed a mana aspect to go along with their insight(s), or if they haven’t used their mana at least once (developed an ability, skill, technique, or spell), the conceptual links will not increase their strength into rank 2.
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> However, in this example, once the being manages to complete the requirements for rank 1, or the ‘prerequisite milestones’ as some scholars refer to them, they’ll immediately advance to rank 2.
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> There are dangers to advancing too quickly. The danger of rushing one’s advancement increases with every 10 ranks. The danger spikes additionally when reaching rank 100. The dangers include: Damaging one’s soul nexus, breaking one’s abilities, unbalancing mana potency and their usage structures, breaking one’s psyche, and plenty of more exotic dangers. The worst of the possible problems can only be cured by a much higher ranked being, or death.
Jonah
Concourse Doors, Passenger Hold, Wesnmen’s Coallition Trading Barge
The massive red orcs stepped forward. They were more the WoW variant, less Tolkien. The largest of them looked like he was pushing two and a half meters. At least, he seemed to be with how the sword wielding warrior had to stoop slightly to shove his way through the airlock’s frame. Heavy brows were deeply furrowed while sharply jutting tusks dominated the wicked grin, producing a terrifying expression of gleeful fury. The sword the thing carried seemed to be as large as Jonah himself as it’s tip preceded the warrior’s bulging muscles through the door, a massive circular buckler covered in spikes pressed forward beside it.
The squeak that came from somewhere nearby probably wasn’t his own. His experience with the pop-hoppers, then the larger giant guardians, had lead Jonah to believe he did pretty well with confrontation and combat. What those experiences had been lacking was any true intimidation. The pop-hoppers had been angry and vicious, but were small and ultimately stupid. The giants had lacked anything that resembled bloodthirst, despite being massive and clearly dangerous. The orc which consumed Jonah’s entire focus was entirely different.
Everything about it, from the tribal tattoos which literally writhed upon its skin independent of its host motions, to the glint of excitement in his black eyes: everything radiated a savage desire to battle, kill, maim. The orc growled deep in its throat and lunged forward, directly at Naomi. Cool as ever, she stepped back and left, out of its reach. A black cloud of mana, which Jonah knew from experience could sap anything from emotion to strength to energy, flashed out and struck the orc across the face.
The force of the blow was shocking. Not only had it made a noise like flesh being struck by wet seaweed, surprising as it was off-putting, it also didn’t pass through the warrior as expected. Jonah found his mouth hanging open at the sight, as the orc’s upraised arm blocked the magical cloud. Having blocked the attack, the orc twisted at the the wrist and pressed down, creating a thin enough strand of the cloud for it to grab. The second orc roared as it flung itself at Chaven.
Jonah staggered backward to get out of their way and realized he wasn’t doing anything useful. Naomi had somehow retrieved her cloud of mana and had changed tactics, it wrapped around her as some kind of shield as she continued to do her best to dodge her much larger opponent’s strikes. She was doing an admirable job, managing to mostly keep away from the sword while giving ground. They’d pass Jonah himself soon if the battle’s momentum continued. When she couldn’t dodge, her cloud of mana worked as a shield, somehow entirely arresting the extreme momentum the orc was putting into each blow.
Belatedly, Jonah glanced at the tags floating about each orc’s head, even looking past the front two at the ones holding what looked like massive blaster rifles casually in their hands.
[LVL 44|Hell Spawn Orc|Warrior] [LVL 40|Hell Spawn Orc|Warrior] [LVL 39|Hell Spawn Orc|Support] [LVL 33|Hell Spawn Orc|Archer]
“Shite, Naomi they way out level us!” Jonah sent through the party channel, panicked.
“Didn’t you say Chaven is like level eighty?” Right, yes, that’s true. He’ll take them all down easily!
Glancing at Chaven, who had engaged the other sword wielding orc, he cringed. “I think the difference in his utility class and their combat classes is a problem.”
While the orc hadn’t yet landed a blow against the surprisingly agile avron, he didn’t seem to be doing much against it either. It seemed like a battle of attrition, which wouldn’t end well for the non-combat focused in the equation. Not to mention there were two other orcs to worry about, who were watching the whole thing with a sense of amusement. They clearly didn’t think their assistance was needed.
“Well, do something to level the field.” Naomi’s voice came through, tone the same as it had been when they discussed the odd meal they’d been served the night before.
“Right, I’m support. Right!” Slapping his face between his hands, Jonah bounced in place as he forced himself into a combat state of mind. I’m System. Not Jonah. I support my team, get them through the battle. He activated his RTS view ability. His point of view snapped to the ceiling, seeing down through the ceiling and walls as if they weren’t there. Looks like a dungeon crawler, that’s cool. He noted before quickly beginning to cast spells.
“Cast haste. Cast predator vision” He quickly chanted under his breath, annoyed that he had to actually speak the names of his spells. At least it wasn’t likely their opponents could hear what he was saying. He’d sent both buffs to Prism, knowing she’d be ready for them. Then he sent a party invite to Chaven, surprised with how quickly it was accepted. The bird man hadn’t even stopped his odd wingy dance with the orc. He slapped an incoming blade thrust aside with his feathered arm, making is seem easy, and his leftmost eye caught System’s. The curiosity in it was clear.
Ignoring the sudden spike of worry over what the more experienced man thought, System sent a him quick message, “Buffs incoming Chaven, one will speed you up and the other will highlight weak points on your opponent.” A sense of agreement came through the link, but Chaven didn’t otherwise answer as he continued his fight.
Quickly sending the same two spells at Chaven, he then proceeded to send a trick at each of the melee fighters. When the one fighting Prism suddenly slashed his sword wide, as if defending from a surprise attack, she slipped into his guard. To System’s shock, she reached up, then jumped to make up the remaining distance, and gouged her fingers directly into the massive warrior’s eyes. He screamed and swung his sword at her back, causing it to stop as it hit her protective cloud, which had condensed around her back like a solid wall. Then Prism’s hand, a finger in each of her opponent’s eyes moved. The orc’s head snapped back the sudden and entirely impossible acceleration of Prism’s arm and body.
The scream stopped as the orc fell, its tag winking out with its death. System wasn’t sure if her fingers had gone in deep enough through the enemy’s eyes to stab its brain, or if the broken neck had done it in. Either way, Prism was the first to finish her opponent. Seeing one of the blaster toting orcs start raising it in his friend’s direction, System cast trick and sent a ping through the party channel to inform Prism.
With a moment of space to breath, System used his newest ability simulate.
The definition flashed briefly through his mind as he activated it.
> Active ability which allows the user to simulate the outcome of a specific set of predefined actions. Simulation time takes N*0.0001, where N is the time required for each action.
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> Simulate will strain the body and mind of the user, mitigated by strong focus, ego, and resolve.
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> Simulation accuracy rises with higher focus, connection, ideation, and processing.
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> Simulation accuracy falls against opponents with higher ego, processing, and focus.
Glad I tested this. Activating the ability gave System exactly ten seconds of relative time, where the rest of the world was frozen, to choose what actions he wanted to test. The main weakness of the ability was that he couldn’t cancel it once it started. The time it would take was difficult to calculate mid-battle, so System was glad he’d done a lost of testing over the last couple weeks. He knew if he looked ahead by two minutes, he could test up to about eighty actions and it would take under a second. The main issue there was the strain.
System quickly entered his instructions. 120 seconds, 5 actions.
SIMULATION ACCEPTED
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TIME:120S
ACTIONS
Action Rolling Time Cost Tell Prism to Help Chaven 12ms Cast Trick on LVL 33 Orc Archer 24ms Cast HP Siphon on LVL 39 Orc Support 36ms Cast Predator Vision on Self 48ms Cast Haste on Self 60ms
ABSOLUTE TIME REQUIRED:72MS
After the defined actions, the rest of the time would follow an entirely reactionary path, simulated rather than being true precognition. It worked flawlessly during spars and in day-to-day situations. Hopefully it was as accurate now.
The scene that played out was from the same top down view he was currently in, which was expected. The simulation always played out from the perspective he activated the ability in. He watched as immediately after casting trick, the orc support shot him, with pin-point accuracy, through the forehead. He watched in horror as his own body collapsed.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Letting the two minutes run out, he saw the blaster orcs enter the fight and end it decisively, before leaving the hallway. He’d clearly overestimated their chances, as he watched an entirely empty room for a minute and a half.
The ability ended gradually, feeling similar to the old bullet time effect Hollywood liked so much, but in reverse. He came back to the world in the current moment, and over the course of a second or so everything sped back up to its normal pace. Once it had, he activated the ability again immediately. He’d have done it sooner, but he couldn’t do anything until the ability fully ended. Taking a step to the left as he activated the ability, System began going through options.
Ten action combinations later, System survived for an entire thirty seconds. Another ten, the entire party survived for thirty seconds. The entire thing had taken a bit over half a second. System’s brain was throbbing, thrumming in bursting whines like an overheated engine.
Quickly, System implemented the successful plan. He cast haste on himself, ran to Chaven while casting trick and shoved him away. A bolt of red energy flashed in the space where Chaven had previously occupied and System sent a concise message, “Roll forward and scream at them.”
Then he threw himself backwards onto his back, dodging the next two incoming blaster bolts by a hair. His nose was singed slightly by the heat of their passing. As he struck the ground he spoke the activation for HP Siphon in a single gasp, “casthpsiphon.” His head was positioned just right to catch a glimpse of the warrior chasing Chaven’s rolling figure as he did.
Then he was rolling to his feet and sending a message to Prism, “Bend at the knees to grab the sword, then rush Chaven’s orc.”
Ignoring what came next, as he already knew, System ran straight toward the blasting orcs. He juked right, dodging a blast. Then staggered a step, another bolt flashing by. Then came the dangerous part. “Can’t even hit the side of a fucking barn the size of your mom’s arse can you, boys?!”
He’d had to try three different taunts before finding one that would likely break through the blase amusement which the two ranged fighters had been operating under. System could only guess mothers were sacred in their culture, and having their aim questioned didn’t hurt. They both screamed at him, rushing forward and firing recklessly. Yelping as if frightened - Okay, maybe not so much an act here. - System spun to his left and sprinted toward the wall at an angle, still moving slightly toward the enraged orcs. He screamed as heat exploded through his shoulder, not even finishing the cry before another jolt of fiery heat radiated from his elbow. He’d been shot twice, both cleanly, both burning straight through him. Even from his RTS View, the pain was intense.
He never felt anything when running simulations, and he was almost surprised as his ability to press through the agony. It helped that he felt more like he was clicking a mouse button, directing a troop, than actually doing anything which might exacerbate his wounds. The effortless movement ability had done a lot to increase his sense of disconnection from himself while in this viewpoint.
Then he saw the critical moment and dove hard to his right, ensuring his body was directly in line with the closest orc. He laughed in triumph as he slid helplessly, sighting down its long barrel. Then fell straight forward as a red light flashed through his neck and struck the wall. View clear, the second orc didn’t hesitate and immediately opened fire again.
Having pulled his legs under himself, System leapt up. He’d like to think he almost hit the ceiling, but he doubted it. They were about three meters from the floor, but since he couldn’t see the ceiling he would just assume he nearly hit his head. A bolt went through his right thigh and he was screaming again as he hit the ground.
“Cast trick!” He hissed, doing his best to keep his voice quiet. He knew if the orc heard him, his mental resistance would be higher as he expected something to try and trick him. Stupid vocalization requirements!
Eyes widening in shock, the orc swung his gun around to his left and fired down the hallway at nothing. The moment’s distraction was exactly what he needed as a rush of relief flowed through him. Prism had just found the opening she needed and had managed to get the insanely huge sword she had taken at his insistence planted on the floor behind the warrior directly before Chaven sent him flying backwards with a powerful kick. The sword caught the orc perfectly, snapping its spine. It would have sent Prism staggering too, except her protective cloud absorbed the momentum in the same way it had for every sword blow. The HP Siphon sent what felt like a torrent of vitality into System, closing all three blaster wounds in an instant.
Rolling back to his feet, System quickly cast trick twice more, distracting the final opponent long enough for him to rush over and pick up the over sized blaster discarded by the orc who’d been shot through the back by his companion. Swinging the muzzle around, System did his best to aim, despite two major problems. First, he couldn’t see through his own eyes and instead was relying on whatever directed actions his RTS View could give, and he honestly had only the roughest concept of how to aim a firearm in the first place.
His simulation had been incorrect about the kickback of the weapon. He fired and lost his hold on the gun as it kicked him hard in the shoulder before falling to the ground, sending System staggering backwards and gasping in pain. The simulation had also been wrong about his accuracy. As his panicked gaze shot back up to his target, he found he’d somehow managed to hit directly through the left side of the creature’s back. It’ll have to be enough to slow it down.
System quickly scooped the gun back up and readied himself for another painful bruise, aiming carefully again. Before he fired, the orc dropped. Belatedly, System realized he’d assumed the orcs would have hearts on the right side of their bodies like humans. It seemed that had been an incorrect assumption.
Sighing in relief, he left the gun’s tip fall toward the ground. Seeing no other enemies within his RTS View’s rather impressive range, he released the ability. The pain in his head redoubled and he lifted a hand to gingerly touch the wet inner ridge of his ear. He was unsurprised to find his finger red with blood. He winced, fairly certain that bleeding had been caused by his overuse of simulation rather than anything the orcs had done directly.
A long shrieking predatory cry brought System’s attention back to his party. Chaven was standing above his opponent, who had actually been killed by Prism, preening proudly. Had they time, System would have liked to poke fun at the oversized bird for his overestimation at his contribution. It wasn’t the time, though.
“We should get going. These guys are either with the attacking ships and somehow boarded, or they’re part of this ship’s crew and intended to take advantage of the chaos. The big one called us thralls. I’m not sure why the UICI would translate it that way instead of as ‘slaves’, but they seem like the same thing to me. We need to figure out what’s going on.” System was impressed to hear how stable his voice was, the adrenaline in his system was slowing and he’d thought the rising fear might come through more clearly.
Prism nodded in agreement, then went to the other gun and hefted it. The thing was just as unwieldy for her as it was for him. He waved his left hand to catch Chaven’s attention and gestured at the gun held in his right, “Can you shoot?” He thought the avron was likely physically stronger than himself or Prism. At least the monstrous kick which had lifted the massive orc off the ground and sent it flying to be impaled suggested as much. Bobbing his head, Chaven took the weapon which he handled with both ease and familiarity.
“Oh, oh! This is quite a new model. It’s both lighter and more powerful than the older ones which are still more common. Exciting, exciting!”
Prism had found a way to hold the gun with the back of the barrel resting on her shoulder which was apparently comfortable enough. When System met her gaze her lips lifted slightly and she nodded, sending through the channel, “Thanks, I take it that fight wouldn’t have been as easy without your simulations?”
Doing his best to keep his face from going pale at the memory of seeing himself die over ten times, he answered, “No. It was going to be bad. I also don’t think I can do that many simulations again for a while. I have the mother of all migraines.”
With a nod, Prism turned and stepped over the bodies toward the airlock. “Don’t forget to check your XP.” She called over her shoulder, “I got a lot.”
With a quick thought, he pulled up his status and found she was right. He’d gone from 10,013.10... to 13,391.42... enough to level up. Taking a deep breath, he sent a quick message to both Prism and Chaven asking them to wait a moment so he could level up. The bird man hadn’t moved and didn’t answer. He’d actually been staring into space since he’d finished examining the gun, likely already allocating his XP in his own way. Prism had stopped short of the airlock and was leaning against its frame, apparently wanting to be behind any enemies that rushed in unexpectedly.
Annoyed at having to rush, System accepted the level up. He went to allocated his stat points and froze for a moment when he saw the stats he’d gained had doubled. Instead of three, he had six available. Feking milestone level, that’s awesome!
Following the plan he’d already made, he put two points into mana, one into focus, and one into processing and two into agility. Then he moved on to the exciting part. He had both an ability and a spell to choose. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to agonize over the choice. He also didn’t have the luxury to wait and choose later. He was convinced he needed the increase in power to survive.
Filtering the spell list to only new options, he ignored anything with more than two keywords. He’d have to speak the spell name to activate it, and he was not trying to say something like, ‘Inescapably Implosive Ignition of Intense Incendiary Immolation.’ While it was likely powerful, he’d never have time to use it during a battle.
Instead, it was narrowed to a dozen. Of those, he picked up Swap.
SWAP
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Trade places with another being. The swap is instantaneous.
Swap may be resisted with a contested check. The caster’s score is defined as: [Caster level + sum(resolve,will,processing,ego)] + [focus*(presence/4)] + [focus*(connection/2)]
While the target’s attempt to resist is defined as: [Caster level + sum(resolve,will,ego)] + [focus*(presence/2)] + [focus*(connection/10)]
Note: Resist attempts are calculated on-demand using absolute stat scores, rather than indefinite/average stat scores shown on character sheet.
For the ability, he’d been extremely underwhelmed. Both of his existing abilities were quite literally game changing. They significantly altered the options available to him at any given moment. That being said, he was satisfied with the synergy provided by his newest ability.
LOCOMOTIVE RECOVERY
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Passive ability which converts 0.1% of kinetic energy generated by motion into a resource pool of the user’s choice [may change resource selection at will].
By itself, the ability essentially translated to a slightly faster resource recovery throughout the day. Potentially faster recovery during combat or other high intensity moments, too. For him, though, there was potential. He could move without ceasing, for as long as he could keep his eyes awake. This ability had the potential to be a true lifesaver.
System glanced one last time at his updated status.
JONAH LOCKE
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Level: 10 Experience: 13,391.42…/27,056.19…
RESOURCES
GSM (Gaming Systems Mana) 64/100 MP (Mana Points) 2/58 [ 61-3 (Effortless Movement)] Stamina 97/110
ATTRIBUTES
Body Strength 10 Dexterity (Macro/Micro) 7/6 Agility 15 Resilience 10 Endurance 13 Perception 12 Mind Memory 13 Processing 17 Ideation 11 Spirit Ego 8 Will 11 Resolve 12 Focus 22 Presence 4 Connection 3 Soul
Note: Insight and related mana aspects lack conceptual linkage with the soul. This section cannot be managed by your ‘Gaming (life is) System’ ability.
SPELLS
* Predator Vision [Buff] - 2 MP
* Trick [Debuff] - 3 MP
* Creature Comforts [Utility] - 10 MP
* HP Siphon [Debuff] - 5 MP
* Haste [Buff] - 10 MP
* Swap [Tactical] - 25 MP
ABILITIES
* Gaming (life is) System
* Overwatch (User Tag: RTS View)
* Party Up
* Character Interface
* Settlment/Camp Interface
* … ?
* Effortless Movement
* Simulate
* Locomotive Recovery
Satisfied, he sent through the party chat, “I’m ready. Let’s go see what’s going on.”