Max’s eyes skimmed all 3 of the screens, and his mind felt like it was on fire as he read through the options the SYSTEM was giving him.
[Athlete]
Rank: Dim
* Extreme Stamina
* High Speed
* No Attack/Magic
* Low Defence
Unlock Conditions:
* Be regarded as ‘physically fit’ without any formal combat training.
[Athletes] excel at being Quick and Agile, making for excellent scouts and spies, but lack the head-on combat potential of other classes.
This one, [Athlete], definitely seemed like something that would be good if he wanted to spend a lot of time running away from things instead of fighting, the stamina enhancements it talked about were likely pretty hefty if it lacked so much combat ability.
But even just at first glance, he could tell that it wasn’t for him. He didn’t want to just run away from things for the rest of his life, that wasn’t a viable strategy in his eyes when mutant dogs and skeletons and whatever else there was lurking out there existed.
Luckily, the other 2 options that he had been given were a lot more appealing.
[Knight]
Rank: Glowing
* High Attack,
* High Defence,
* Medium Speed/Magic.
Unlock Conditions:
* Show a basic proficiency for combat, wield a ‘sword-like’ weapon, and wear some form of metal armour.
[Knights] are excellent all-rounders, excelling at close-quarter combat, usually with a sword, while also having magical potential. However, they lack the extreme alacrity of specialised classes.
[Juggernaut]
Rank: Glowing
* Extreme Defence
* Medium Attack
* Low Speed
* No Magic
Unlock Conditions:
* Have higher than average endurance, experience extreme levels of adrenaline rush during TEST FRACTURE combat test
[Juggernauts] excel at outlasting their opponents and wearing them down with physical attacks but lack the manoeuvrability and arcane prowess of other classes
He noticed that these two were a different ‘rank’ than [Athlete] was. Was that why there seemed better? Focusing on the word ‘glowing’, he mentally pulled at it, hoping that it brought up an explanation screen as it had done before. And it seemed that he was in luck!
Ranks:
Many things are categorised into 5 ranks, in ascending order of power, potential or significance. These ranks include:
* Dim
* Glowing
* Bright
* Illuminated
* Shining
Rarity increases with Rank, for items, spells, and skills.
He nodded to himself as he read through the screen, before mentally swiping it away. That was… pretty much what he expected from it. It did feel good to know that he had earned the option for classes that were a bit stronger.
With the explanation screen removed again, he read through the other two once more. Both had their upsides, so it was hard to choose, especially since he had no real frame of reference for what type of creatures now existed in the world.
[Juggernaut] specifically stated ‘extreme’ endurance in its description, while [Knight] only said ‘high’, which made said to him that if he chose [Juggernaut] and survived long enough to level up, he would eventually become incredibly tough to hurt.
The downside of that extreme durability, however, seemed to be the complete lack of Magic. He… didn’t quite like the sound of that. Looking away from the screen for a moment, he glanced around the blue-green-yellow void he was floating in.
The world had been suddenly thrust into a new age of magic and monsters, of that he was sure. Sure, it hadn’t even been a full day since it had happened, but already he had seen and done things he never would have imagined himself doing even just yesterday.
Lacking magical ability in a world like this… didn’t sound very appealing to him, and it didn’t sound like a solid strategy for survival in the long run. Who knew when he would run into a monster that had some sort of shock absorption, or immunity to physical attacks? He’d read enough stories in his life to know that was fairly common in monsters, at least in those fictional worlds. Still, he didn’t really have any other frame of reference for the things that were happening.
No, not having magic wasn’t an option for him, not if he wanted to not only survive but thrive in this new world. And that left him with only one choice…
[Knight]
Rank: Glowing
* High Attack,
* High Defence,
* Medium Speed/Magic.
Unlock Conditions:
* Show a basic proficiency for combat, wield a ‘sword-like’ weapon, and wear some form of metal armour.
[Knights] are excellent all-rounders, excelling at close-quarter combat, usually with a sword, while also having magical potential. However, they lack the extreme alacrity of specialised classes.
He read over the SYSTEM screen again. And then again for good measure. And then one more time, just to make sure that he was really really sure. But he couldn’t think of any arguments against it. With his criteria of ‘wanting/needing magic potential’, it was quite literally his only option.
‘Maxwell Clark, [Knight]... it does have quite the ring to it.’
He shook his head, focusing on the SYSTEM screen. This was it. He’d beaten the TEST FRACTURE, even as it seemingly levelled up into a proper FRACTURE in at least difficulty, and finally… he had a class.
As the thought crossed his mind, his vision went pure white, the SYSTEM screen vanishing from his sight, as a small ‘Ding!’ rang through his ears. After a moment of this pure white void, another SYSTEM screen appeared.
[Class] Selected!
Congratulations, Maxwell Clark!
You are now a [Knight - LVL 1]
Full SYSTEM features activated.
[Knight] class Stat Bonuses applied!
[Knight] class LVL 1 Ability: [Swordplay] has been added to the Ability List!
As the screen appeared, he felt his body start to move rapidly, his arms being thrown behind him as he squinted, before suddenly, stillness… and his vision going black as his body sagged from exhaustion.
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When he woke up, it was too loud voices seemingly yelling at each other, and the feeling of his head laying on something soft. Where was he?
Wait… didn’t he have school today? Fuck… was he late again? He groaned as he opened his eyes, one arm moving to rub the sleep out of them, only to find that there was none there.
His focus was then drawn to the loud voices, which got even louder as he started moving. “Damian! Damian! He’s awake! Come here please!”
‘What? Who is Damian… wait!’
The last of his tiredness vanished as the memory of the day returned to his sleepy mind. He shot upright, only just narrowly avoiding headbutting the older lady whose lap his head was seemingly lying in, as he went, and shot to his feet, eyes darting around.
“Thanks, Dorothy. Whoa there, Max! Calm down, son. Do you remember me? Do you remember where you are?”
His eyes were drawn to the deep voice of the police officer he’d met earlier, Damian, as the man stood a good few meters away from him, his left hand outstretched, with the other sitting on top of his holster.
A quick glance assured him that it was for the man’s taser, not pistol, but it was still a little uncomfortable to have that threat. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, before nodding to the man.
“Yes… sir. I’m alright. Just… tired. And sore. And it took my brain a bit to catch up on all of the stuff that’s happened today. It’s Damian, right?”
Luckily, that seemed to be enough for the man, and his right hand left the ‘ready’ position on top of his taser, and dropped to his side. “Yea, kid. It's good to see you in one piece, and I’m sorry to do this to you so quickly after waking up, but… we have questions.”
Max nodded slightly, sighing to himself. “I assumed that you would, yea. I have nowhere else to be at the moment now that I have my [Class], so I can explain in full if you like.”
Even through the small slit in the man’s helmet, he could see Damian’s eyes widen slightly at that before he nodded, waving everyone over to where he had been lying, which Max saw had been turned into a small makeshift campsite, rocks having been set up as seats around a small fire.
Max gave it a moment to let everyone gather around, the curiosity clear on even the most sceptical of people, including Sarah, the old bat.
As he sat down on a rock and rolled his shoulders, he could feel every member of the group's eyes on him. When most everyone was seated, the older lady whose lap he had been lying in spoke up. “We saw you go into the thing you called a TEST FRACTURE a while ago, and then you just sort of… appeared at the foot of it, unconscious. What happened?”
Max just… let himself talk for a bit, explaining to them all what had happened in the TEST FRACTURE, and the options that he had been given at the very end. He made sure to emphasise the fact that the skeletons were trying to kill him, not to brag about having beaten them, but to make sure that they all knew the stakes.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Most of the group was silent as he spoke, but he did have to answer a few questions from the older folk, who were definitely not familiar with some of the words he was using, as they required a bit of foreknowledge or genre literacy.
Things like what the ‘SYSTEM’ was, what a ‘[Class]’ was, and even something as simple to him as ‘stats’ was foreign to some of these people. It felt weird, but the ones asking the questions looked to be in their upper middle age, so maybe they just were the type to read fantasy or sci-fi stuff?
Luckily there were a couple of older people who did have some basic knowledge about video games and RPGs and helped him with comparisons and examples when he faltered.
As he finished telling them how he had chosen his [Class] and ended up picking [Knight] from the 3 choices, there was a minute or two of silence. He couldn’t really blame them.
What he was telling them to believe, not even 24 hours beforehand, would have likely gotten him sent to a therapist at least, if not a psychiatric ward. Unfortunately… it was all true. The truth, however, didn’t stop some of them from being sceptical.
“Prove it. How do we know that you’re not lying to us?”
Max glanced over to Sarah, who was looking at him as if he was crazy, but he could tell that she was on the cusp of panic. Actually, glancing around, a lot of the group wasn’t looking too hot emotionally.
Max nodded silently at the request, standing up from his rock. He was kinda just improvising at this point, but the SYSTEM had mentioned that it had given a couple of his stats an initial boost as a reward for unlocking his class.
And as [Knight] was a mainly melee class, he assumed that he would have gotten some more [Strength]. He did a 180 and grabbed the rock he’d been sitting on with both hands, bending at the knee and picking it up the proper way.
It was about the size of an esky and should have been too heavy for him to do this with ease, but when he pushed his knees to stand up with it, there was almost no resistance.
It was so easy that he almost stumbled back with it, but luckily his enhanced strength worked both ways, and he was able to hold himself upright. Turning to Sarah, he made a show of dropping the rock after making sure it wouldn’t land on anything important, the small cloud of dust that erupted from it with a THUD making him blink.
“Fuck.”
He had to stop himself from laughing at the old woman’s exclamation as her head fell into her hands, but it was clear that his message had been received by all of the people in the ‘camp.
The SYSTEM and its effects were real, and they were just going to have to get used to it.
It was almost comical, how quickly everyone in the group started to break down as they all came to this realisation, that the world that they were seeing, the one they had convinced themself was a bad dream, was reality, but he couldn’t find it in him to laugh.
Sure, he’d been excited at the prospect of magic and levels, but to all of these people, they were being thrown into a world they had no clue how to navigate, after spending most of their lives learning how to live in an entirely different way.
Max was brought out of his thoughts as a hand landed on his shoulder, and when he looked up, he was greeted by the distraught face of Damian, who had taken his Riot Helmet off. “Kid, I… I need you to walk me through the TEST FRACTURE again. I don't think that many of these people are going to be brave or put together enough to go in there by themselves as you did unless someone they really trust does it first, and I can’t ask you to protect anyone by yourself, or at all even… just-”
Max nodded, already kinda sensing where Damian was going with this. “It’s alright, mate. I’ll tell you everything again, and then you can take a crack at it. That’s what you’re after, yea?”
Damian had a look on his face that made it clear he was relieved he didn’t have to ask it outright as he nodded, and Max shuffled over on his rock, patting the spot next to him. The police officer hesitated for a moment, before sitting down next to Max, placing his helmet between his feet as Max grabbed a nearby stick, drawing the layout of the TEST FRACTURE as best he could remember it.
“Alright, I’m not completely certain that your one will be the same, but if it is, here's how mine went…”
Among the small crowd of people who were coming to terms with their new lives, Max couldn’t help but be impressed as Damian focused on what he was explaining with a weirdly calm look on his face.
When he was done with his explanation, Damian just sat in silence for a little while, his fingers laced together over his nose and mouth as he stared at the ground. Max just let him be while he looked around for where the group had put his gear, as he had noticed he wasn’t wearing his ‘armour’ or his bag.
He was about to go ask the nice older lady that had his head in her lap earlier where they had put it when he heard the click of Damian putting his helmet back on, followed by the noise of him taking the magazine out of his pistol, checking its ammo, and reloading the gun, sticking back in its holster.
The noises drew the attention of the other members of the group as well, who were doing… slightly better now that they had been given some time to process… everything. Max jogged back over to the police officer, who was facing the TEST FRACTURE’s portal, taking deep breaths.
“Hey, you’ll be ok, mate. Trust me. If I was able to get through it with just my bat, then it’ll be a piece of cake for you. Just remember to shoot for the joints, and don't let the big guy near you, if he appears at all.”
Damian nodded, before turning his head to look at Max. “Yea. Yea. I’ll be fine. I’m only going to be fighting actual supernatural creatures, that I am willingly stepping into the lair of… not a problem.”
Max slapped him on the back, and even with the man’s armour and sheer size, he could tell that Damian felt it. “I’ll keep an eye on these guys until you get back, alright? So don’t worry about all of them, and just get out of there with your [Class] so you tag back in.”
Damian snorted, shaking his head. “Portals, skeletons, and pep talks from snarky kids who haven’t even hit 20 yet. Fucking hell, this will be a good yarn to spin over drinks at some point.”
They’d been slowly making their way to the portal as they chatted, and they had finally reached it, the low buzz of its energy filling both their ears. Damian took a couple of deep breaths, before turning his head to Max again, who just gave him a double thumbs up, before he released one last long breath and dashed forward, vanishing into the portal.
Not wanting to waste time, Max gave the portal a quick nod, wishing him the best, before turning back to the campsite and quickly finding Dorothy, who passed him his gear back. He quickly put it all back on and moved towards one of the bigger rocks around, sitting cross-legged with his bat over his knees as he kept an eye on the group.
He’d promised Damian, and he intended to keep that promise.
----------------------------------------
Luckily, nothing showed up to attack them.
Nothing had shown up to attack them at all since they arrived at the TEST FRACTURE, actually, something he found out when he asked Dorothy about it around 2 hours after Damian entered the portal.
With that bit of information, he calmed down a little. So while he didn’t stop keeping an eye on the people, he allowed himself to investigate some things that he had been putting to the side.
Holding out his palm in front of him, he summoned his SYSTEM stat screen, wanting to see for himself what had changed after he selected [Knight] as his [Class].
Maxwell “Max” Clark
[Class]: Knight
[Level]: 1
[Stats]:
* Strength: 3
* Dexterity: 2
* Endurance: (5)
* Intelligence: 2
* Charisma: 1
* Luck: 1
[Ability List]
> Swordplay:
* Attacks with sword-like weapons deal extra damage based on the user’s [Strength] stat.
[Equipment]
> Modified Cloth Armour:
* A varied set of thick clothing. Offers a small amount of protection from impacts, cuts, and the cold.
* Increased protection on the torso.
> Cricket Bat:
* A standard cricket bat made out of quality wood with a metal core.
> (Dim) Knight’s Helmet
* A Knights helmet made out of a Light but strong metal
* Created by upgrading [Cricket Helmet] as a reward for completing a FRACTURE
* Gives a +1 to [Endurance]
> Face Mask:
* A cloth face mask. Hides the wearer's face but provides no protection.
His [Endurance] seemed to have gone up by three, his [Strength] by two, and his [Dexterity] and [Intelligence] both went up by one. There was, however, something odd about his Endurance stat compared to the others, but reading down a little explained it.
‘The (Dim) ranked Knight’s Helmet.’
He ran the helmet through his hands, the smooth, tough-feeling metal surprisingly light in his hands. It said that it used to be his cricket helmet and that the SYSTEM had changed it into the (Dim) Knight’s Helmet, and he could actually kind of see it.
It was rounded like his cricket helmet had been, but it was also not quite as wide on his head, the padding thinner but feeling just as absorptive, the bit that went over his mouth was also very clearly sourced from the faceguard of his old helmet, as it followed the curve of his chin, covering it completely, unlike the grill on the old faceguard.
This created a slit in the helmet to see out of, but it also kept the ability to remove the grill as he had been able to with the faceguard if he needed the helmet to be more open.
And finally, the SYSTEM said that it gave him a +1 to [Endurance], which explained why the 5 in the stat screen had brackets around it. If he placed it on the ground and completely stopped touching it, his [Endurance] dropped back down to what he assumed his natural number was, four.
That still made him 3 [Endurance] levels tougher than a regular human, however, and with the helmet… he wondered just how tough he was. He shook that thought away as he placed his new helmet on his head, clicking the faceguard into place and marvelling at how snug and secure it was. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to find out just how durable he was now for a long while.
As the sun started to dip under the treeline of the outback-forest-clearing thing the portal was located in, he was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard zapping noises from the TEST FRACTURE, his eyes darting over to the portal in time to see Damian stepping out of it, his shoulders slumped.
“Damian!”
He was on his feet and running before he knew it, and almost tripped as he got used to his new speed, his extra [Strength] and [Dexterity] clearly making him faster than he was before. Apparently, even with his [Class] description saying he wouldn’t be stupid fast, he would still get a little extra speed.
Damian turned to him as he ran over, and the man didn’t even start walking over, instead just plopping down to sit right outside the portal, clearly exhausted. Max’s shout had alerted the other members of the group, and they were making their way over to the pair as well.
“Are you ok? Was it similar to my TEST FRACTURE? Do you have your [Class] now?”
The older man just gave a sigh-laugh at his questions, leaning back and holding himself up with his left hand as he used his right to remove his helmet. “Jesus Christ, kid. Let me take a breath, will ya. That shit was insane.”
Max couldn’t help but smile. If Damian was in the mood to make jokes, then…
“Yeah, I got my [Class] as well, just like you said I would. You’re looking at a fresh [Brawler] right here. Think it said it was something like (Dim) ranked? I have no clue what that means, exactly, but it was the best sounding [Class] of the three it gave me the choice of.”
Max heard gasps from behind him as Damian mimicked what he had seen Max do earlier, summoned his own SYSTEM screen and tried to show it to Max, only for it to be completely blank to Max’s eyes. And green. For some reason, Damian’s SYSTEM screens were green.
Was colour random, or did it mean something?
Max resolved to focus on that later and reached down to help Damian to his feet. “Sorry mate, seems like I can’t read your stats. And while I appreciate the thought, I think we should get into the habit of not really talking about them to other people. I trust you, and I hope you trust me now too, but in the stories, I read before all this, sharing your stats was only for people who would never use that knowledge to hurt you.”
Damian paused at that before his SYSTEM screen vanished from his palm. “You know what, that does make sense. Why let potentially bad apples know what you’re capable of, right?”
Max nodded. “Yea, I just think it's for the best.”
Damian seemed to be able to reply to him again when Dorothy pushed her way through the group, speaking. “Do you feel any different, sir?”
Max took a step back as Dorothy’s question seemed to open the floodgates for the other camp members, as questions started being hurled at Damian about the TEST FRACTURE and his new [Class].
He was a little miffed that they hadn’t seemed quite as worried about him when he exited the TEST FRACTURE, but he’d gotten enough information to know that Damian had likely personally saved at least a few of them on their way here, and had the entire groups respect.
It was only as he sat back down near the bonfire the group had created, his back to one of the larger rocks and his bag beside him, that he let himself finally feel the exhaustion that had been seeping into his muscles and thoughts since Damian had entered the portal.
His tiredness, the cool night air, made warmer by the roaring fire, and the soft padding inside his helmet made a wonderfully effective combination, and he soon found himself drifting to sleep, proper sleep this time, both eager and concerned about the days ahead.
The first day of his new life was over, and he had no clue at all what the future would bring.