In the void, there was nothing.
Andrew tried looking around and saw absolute blackness. Not himself not a speck of light.
There was no sensation, just him and his thoughts.
This went on for an indeterminate amount of time before a flash and suddenly stretched out before him as far as he could see was row after row of bodies.
His bodies.
Or rather reflections of himself wearing different clothes and armor as far as he could see. A legion unto himself. I am Legion. Just kidding, no demon powers for me. I see some robes though. Maybe I could be a real laser sword knight. If that is an option Charles is picking it 100%. When he looked more closely at the figures on the far left four of them instantly snapped forward to about 10 feet in front of him in a semi-circle as *Ding* sounded in his mind causing him to yelp far more high-pitched than he would like anyone else ever to overhear.
As he yelped a screen with text appeared before his eyes.
Welcome to class selection!
You must choose a starting class to begin the tutorial.
As you were with a group of others all of you and your possessions will start in the same location within the tutorial.
Congratulations for bringing multiple well-crafted weapons and a full set of substantial armor you gain the following achievements:
Well Armed: For entering the tutorial with more than five well-crafted weapons the weapon you choose to systemize will gain a grade enhancement. +5 Strength +5 Dexterity. You gain increased awareness of all weapons on your person or mount.
That's the first mention of a mount. Having fought with multiple weapons that buff may be better than it seems and on horse or mountback that would be amazing. Oof that does not sound right. It has always been my dream to ride a moose into combat ever since playing all those crazy survival games. Let's see what else I’ve got.
True Defense: For entering the tutorial with a full suit of heavy plate armor with more defense than 99.99999% of all other participants when systemized your armor will gain 3 grade enhancments and a unique set bonus. +25 Endurance +25 Vitality + 10% Endurance +10% Vitality. Armor is your second skin. You gain an innate awareness of the state of your armor and may soulbind to one full set of armor allowing you to dismiss and summon it at will.
Dang, sure glad I was near my armor… With that percentage, I bet less than 10,000 people have full armor. How many people will survive without access to weapons or armor…
Big Lifter: For helping to lift more than the capacity allowed by the tutorial, you gain: +5 Strength +5 Constitution, and 20% increased lifting capacity outside of combat.
Nice, didn’t think my crazy idea would pay off this well.
Keen Eye: For more closely inspecting the information given and learning more about the system messages before the tutorial you gain +5 Perception and the ability Inspect.
Drat, I should have told the others to check that but that will come in handy.
Of your possessions, you may choose one weapon and one full set of armor to systemize. This will enhance the item's durability and allow for system upgrades, enchantments, and boons to be placed on the items. Due to your achievements, you will gain additional benefits for each item. Choose carefully as your selection may influence your available classes.
As he finished reading the prompt all of his weapons appeared in front of him. On the leftmost side was his sword, then his great axe, followed by a mace, one of his small daggers, and finally his poleaxe.
Yikes, what a choice. I have no idea what we’ll face in this tutorial. If it's a cramped dungeon the mace or sword would probably be best. The poleaxe would give the most reach and it provides three types of damage slashing, piercing, and blunt. However the great axe is by far the best outside of combat as a tool, has the second most reach, and would be devastating to get hit by. It has no blunt damage though, and the dagger is far too situational that settles it.
Do I just think about it? Poleaxe I choose you!
The Poleaxe in question was a fairly standard knighly poleaxe. It was slightly modified to compensate for Andrew's height and came in at just over seven feet in length from the tip of the bottom spike up to the top of the spear point at its head. The axe head itself was roughly twelve inches wide shaped in a crescent with sharp points at either end. On the opposite side of the crescent axehead was a large hammerhead with small pyramids covering the face. It was about five inches by two inches. The other sides of the head that weren't occupied by the ax and the hammer had small spikes protruding from them to help secure the head to the body of the top of the weapon. About a foot and a half from the top, there was a small circular guard to stop one's hand from riding too far up the shaft when maneuvering for thrusts or pulling it back to oneself allowing for more leverage and to increase stability.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Would you like to select this Poleaxe to be systemized and gain all weapon bonuses from your title?
Yes/No
After his confirmation, the weapon started to glow a soft green. Watching closely Andrew saw the grime and wear that the weapon had accumulated disappear. The edges of the axe head were sharpened to a razor's edge and the point of this spearhead on top became straighter and shined with a deadly glean. Focusing on the new weapon a pop-up appeared saying:
System Poleaxe - Quality Uncommon: Weapone that has been enhanced by the system. Durability 650/650. Weapon has the ability [Powerful blows] for a small cost of additional stamina on your next strike the weapon will hit more forcefully increasing the piercing, slashing, or blunt damage applied to the target based on stamina usage.
I don't know how severe stamina costs for other items are going to be but that sounds like a very strong ability to begin the tutorial with. I wonder how this will compare to other items at this level. It seems like a great start, especially if the enhancement to my armor is going to be two tiers higher.
As soon as he finished expecting this new weapon his armor appeared before him.
The process began similarly to that of his weapon with the armor magically clearing itself and being restored to perfect condition when a prompt appeared offering him a choice of enhancement for the armor.
Due to the quality of your achievement and the new grade of your armor, you may select an ability from the following options to enhance your armor.
Suit of the Destroyer: unyielding and destructive, this armer will empower you and your blows to wreak havoc with every swing assured in your protection. As you deal damage, you gain increased strength and constitution. This bonus scales based on damage dealt and the number of entities slain while in combat.
Refuge of the Protector: become a safeguard for those whom you seek to defend and protect. Gain increased movement speed to aid in the defense of those around you. For each blow you block or absorb that would have hit someone else you gain increased constitution and endurance proportional to the damage blocked while in combat.
Knighly Bulwark: gain additional constitutional and endurance proportional to the amount of time in battle and blows taken. Gains additional abilities based on current quests and convictions.
Looking at the many options, Android felt very conflicted. Each option seems extremely potent from the absolute dominance of Suit of the Destroyer to the survivability and flexibility of Knighly Bulwark.
The first two options are both very conditional. One was geared toward superior offense rather than defense which wasn’t the purpose of armor and the second was over-reliant on protecting others and taking hits for others. He wasn't afraid to get hit but it certainly wasn't what he preferred, especially as he intended to make full use of his new poleaxe rather than a one-handed weapon and a shield.
He had a feeling John would lean toward that route but with a shield and spear
With that in mind, Andrew selected the third option Knighly Bulwark.
Afterward, he received a prompt quickly asking him to confirm his selection. After responding Yes the same green glow as before started peeking through the cracks between the plates of the armor as it continued to grow brighter and brighter. The plates began to glow the same shade of green as his heraldry before. Beginning in the center of his chest plate where before were only some simple angular designs ornamented the armor an extremely elaborate floral leaf pattern started to snake across each piece of plate.
From the waist down the angular design that was there before shifted becoming sharper as it continued down his legs and extended out stretching the metal to provide additional coverage of his joints. Light suffused the metal giving it a subtle green hue. As the light started to fade some plates became thicker in some areas and thinner in others seemingly to more adequately protect the bearer.
After this process was complete Andrew marveled at the immaculately intricate armor. He had never seen anything like it outside of AI art and images of the restored armor of Henry II. He was itching to try it on. But before he could the visages of himself staring off into the nothing behind him took his attention.
Select a class.
Note that because of the achievements you gained and the equipment you possess additional class options may be available. You may sort available classes based on any number of factors. Please note that some classes have strict requirements and limitations.
Okay, so like a video game, if I get locked into a healer role, it would probably be difficult to gain strength-related attributes or make use of my fighting knowledge. I already gained quite a few free physical attributes and the percentage boosting achievement seems strong.
Also, note that each choice has an impact on your mythos and stats gained at each level.
Mythos and stories must be at the core of powers and the key to truly utilizing the system. I need to try to keep consistency to create my knightly legend.
I should try to get a powerful yet versatile class early. Who knows how hard it will be to evolve a high-tier class if start with one of those? I think it needs to just take a look at them before speculating more.