The world comes back into focus but this time when I can see again I realize I'm back at the bar. Fuck Ya, all done with that. It feels like an entire day is gone, and I've been trampled by a gang of rabid children, I may be mentally exhausted.

Trying to move I realize the world is frozen and there is an incessant ringing in my ears. I can see through my eyes but my body is paralyzed, It is like a paused movie or a screen capture the people in the area are caught lifting drinks, talking to each other, typing on their phones, looking out into the casino, or watching the timer countdown on the TV. As far as I can tell everyone including me has been returned exactly as they were, or maybe we never left. My whiskey on the rocks is still in my hand and the ice is still in fancy diamond shapes, the annoying guy next to me is caught mid yell as he screams at the tv.

Then the moment is done, all at once the paused effect ends and instantly my hand releases the drink I'm holding, with a flash I catch the drink before it has time to move more than an inch or two. Around the bar I see drinks and phones falling as people adjust to the freedom of movement.

Then there is shouting, muttering, screams, other people are shouting names, the bartender who was standing just in front of me is no longer there in fact there are people missing from around the entire area. Previously a very crowded bar now has empty spots where I would of bet someone had been standing or sitting.

The flat screens over the bar which are covering the news and the countdown had 'Live' posted in the upper left corner. There had been a panel of 4 people talking about what to expect, though now there were only 2 of them at the news desk. The look of confusion on the anchors face is priceless as she stutters and looks around the studio. The camera slowly pans sideways for a nice view of the wall and you can hear her start to ramble loudly about missing people and non-sense about aliens, skills, and being abducted. The screen cuts out and it now says something about technical issues. So much for news actually giving us news.

With all of my new new senses or would that be attributes? I can feel the people moving around me and part of my mind is tracking everyone, automatically placing them into categories. I seem to be identifying each person organizing them into various threat levels, even crazier I can 'sense' the people behind me, It must be my Perception Attribute somehow picking up subtle details.

My buzz has long since left me even though, looking up at the tv and the clock shows 5:42, only 1 minute has passed since everything resumed.

Remembering that I now have 'Magic' 'Skills' and 'Menus' I start things off by taking a sip of my whiskey and muttering "Menu". The screen opens up obscuring my sight, I can see around the edges better than before but it blocks out the center with a solid window like a large tablet or viewing area. There is a new set of buttons on the edge of the screen, instinctively I know they control the settings and options, across the top are tabs with various labels, The controls seem to be the same as previously so everything is run by intent and thought.

With a little experimentation I discover I can slide the main screen to the left and as it moves past my site line my left eye splits, disorienting me for a moment, the new eye follows the screen until it is right at the edge of my normal vision. It might be based on 'Perception or Intelligence' but I quickly adjust to the new set-up. Playing with the settings I adjust the background of the menu area to be transparent and now I can see through the screen and essentially have an eye to the side of my head.

Selecting the map feature I focus on it and soon it slides to my right side resulting in my others eyes vision to split and soon I have a 4th area. It only takes a moment to adjust and soon I match the transparency of the left side and now I can see mostly behind myself, It's disorienting at first but I quickly adjust to the new view.

On the map I can see a layout of the immediate area around me similar to a 3-D CAD wire-frame, the map continues to expand in all directions, the details filling in as far as I can sense. Scanning the area the map continues to fill in with the layout of the casino including miniscule people moving around in real time. The longer the map model is open the more details are added and the people around me begin to be assigned a variety of colors. The farther area is roughly filled in with what I remember leaving me with an odd map that is very detailed around me but fuzzy the farther away.

This is really going to be a lot to learn. It reminds me of having multiple screens set up for gaming.

I let the map close and go back to looking around at the people, this area had previously been crowded, people milling around, others playing their slot machines, some watching the various tvs, and many just drinking.....lots of drinking. Now there were voids where it felt like someone had just been there, like the lady at the slots who is staring at the chair next to her, the 2 kids over by the restaurant screaming for their parents, over by the table games there people shouting out names and frantically looking all around, shopping bags just sitting on the ground, an empty mobility scooter with a purse hanging from the handle bars. Closer in the bar area i can see a cell phone and drink at one of the small tables but no one to go with it, and there is a guy just a few feet away frantically searching faces.

A few of the people are trying to touch what I imagine is the screen in front of them like its a modern touchscreen, their hands and fingers waving in front of their faces. Other people funnily enough just went back to gambling and drinking like nothing happened.

Without a bartender I reach over the counter and grab a bottle of 'the good stuff' and top off my drink.

Sitting back and sipping my whiskey It feels like I was gone for hours selecting skills and classes while gearing up at the store but according to the clock on the tv it was only seconds or no time at all. Maybe we never left but it was a mental transference of some sort or a hallucination, regardless it felt real enough. Keeping an eye on those around me I skim the menu and various tabs/categories, I am amazed I can read everything as it is obviously not American English but according to the introduction this must be the world language which I guess we can all now speak, read, and understand.

Planning what to do next. Since the world didn't end like expected I need to collect my stuff in my suite then probably head to my safe house, which means getting to the 21st floor and then back out to the street.

With a thought I switch my screen to the tab labeled 'status' which opens up a long list set up like an old computer game. At the top a line of text briefly lets me know I can go directly to this screen by thinking 'status' while opening the menu.

Name: Benjamin Bateman

Also Known As: Ben

Active Title: -

Race: Human

Active Class: (b) Gambler

Inactive Class: (b) Card Mechanic, (b) Drunkard, (b) Crafter, (s) Parkourist, (b) Medic, (s) Opportunist, (b) Brawler, (b) Warrior/Ranged, (s) Gunfighter, (s) Visionary, (s) Courier, (s) Scavenger, (s) Pathfinder, (s) Restorer, (u) Spatial Artificer

Level: 0

Loyalty: -

Notoriety: -

Health - 140

Passive Health Regeneration - 5 per hour

Mana Energy - 440

Mana Energy Regeneration - 40 per hour

Stamina - 74

Stamina Regeneration - 37 per hour

Class Points: 16

Attributes:

Mind: 20

-Intelligence - 11

-Wisdom - 3

-Willpower - 6

Body: 14

-Endurance - 3

-Strength - 6

-Vitality - 5

Movement: 23

-Dexterity - 10

-Agility - 6

-Speed - 7

Awareness: 21

-Perception - 13

-Mana Sense - 8

Class Attributes:

-Luck +10 (100%)

-Resistance +2 (20%)

-Intimidation +2 (20%)

-System Contracts +5 (50%)

Affinities:

-Healing Magic / Unlocked (+2)

-Ice Magic Unlocked (0%)

-Spatial Affinity / Unlocked (+1)

-Smell / Enhanced (+1/10%)

Other:

-Mana Energy Manipulation / Unlocked (+7)

-Spatial Manipulation (+2)

-Pain Tolerance +2 (20%)

-Poison resistance +2 (20%, Alcohol)

Skills:

Gamblers Luck +2

Lucky Draw

Poison resistance +2 (20%, Alcohol)

Simple Bluff

Read Tells

Sleight of hand

Purify Liquid

Pain Tolerance +2 (20%)

Chill Liquid (Unlocks Ice Magic)

Mechanics

Tracking

Cooking

Running

Jumping

Climbing

First Aid (Unlocks Healing Magic)

De-Tox

Knots

Spot Bluff

Calculate Odds

Concentration

Unarmed Combat

Forage

Cartography

Firearms Proficiency

Quick Reload

Steady Aim

Small Firearms/Gun Proficiency

Fast draw

Stealth

Clear Sight

Translate, Written

Zoom

Basic Piloting

Swimming/Water Travel

Blacksmithing

Repair Small Item

Diagnostics

Salvage

Treasure Sense (Advanced)

Concealment

Tracking

Locksmith

Simple Mechanics

Disarm / General

Construction

Forgery

Spatial Affinity / Unlocks Spatial Magic

Class Skills:

Gambler - Limited Premonition

Card Mechanic - Switch

Drunkard - Refine and Enhance Liquids

Crafter - Imbue and Enhance Item

Parkourist - Small Domain Awareness

Medic - Identify and Heal minor wounds

Opportunist - Nudge

Brawler - Battle Enhancement

Warrior / Ranged - Increased Accuracy and Speed

Gunfighter - Accurate Shot

Visionary - Identification

Courier - Transport

Scavenger - Systemized Scavenged Item

Pathfinder - Pathing and Tracking

Restorer - Repair/Restore/Revive

Spatial Artificer - Spatial Infusion

Quests:

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Not to shabby, I wonder what a strength of 6 actually means."

Thinking over what happened I remember setting up my class each time but some of the details are fuzzy, similar to a dream where I know what happened but it's hard to remember everything. Each time my options were a bit better and i was able to add more skills and buy more items from the store. My classes are all over the place, hopefully that doesn't matter and I can combine them or adjust them somehow. My attributes seem to be nice and high but with nothing to compare it to who knows.

Thinking about the Strength Attribute I notice a new pop up to my left sitting on top of my sheet, after a moment it fades out.

STRENGTH - A measure of how much you can carry/lift/move, how much power/force/damage your attacks have. Strength also determines how sturdy and resistant the body is. Some items and weapons a person can use are determined by a strength requirement. Strength is included as one part of your BODY attribute category.

"Well that doesn't help much" I mutter. Looking around no one seems to be paying much attention to me, I had kind of tuned out the chaos building up around the bar. There is a lot of shouting now from every direction, I should probably get out of here. I pull out my phone to and notice that I'm at half charge.

5:44....3 minutes have passed.

OK, first back to my suite.

Decision made I finish my whiskey, grab the bottle, then stand up. Scanning the crowd for danger I notice the people around me like snap shots in a photo album. A group in the corner whispering to themselves, A distraught woman frantically looking around, security moving here and there, a lot of people were on their cell phones either typing or talking, on either side of me the people are drinking quickly as they stare off into space. I look back to the group in the corner as I noticed a glow from one of the guys, In his cupped hands he is staring at a marble sized flashing ball of lightning. Definitely time to move along.

Intending to get to my room and gather up my luggage as quick as possible, without meaning to I must of tapped into my new abilities. Everyone I pass seems to move in slow motion, enough so that in a second or two I was out of the bar area, I pause just outside of the bar and look back, a few people that I passed are looking in my direction, I realize that I may have moved too fast somehow. I continue on my way this time trying to walk like normal so as not to draw attention to myself. Moving off through the banks of slot machines I realize I forgot to cash out from my video poker game. Shit!

Riding the escalator up I look out over the casino floor, security and employees are helping small groups of people. A brief flicker of the lights and the escalator makes a mechanical grinding noise and stops moving. I walk the rest of the way up the stopped escalator. This floor has the shops and restaurants around the walkways.

The lobby is just ahead and I veer right towards the elevators. There is an eerie silence in the air with no one at the counters, no one milling around the open area, and the padded walls absorb the few sounds that make it this far in. Surrounded by quiet I feel a tremor in the floor, enough of a shake so you know it's probably an earthquake but not enough worry about.

*ding* such a normal elevator sound to make as the doors slide open. I get a premonition I should of taken the stairs.

Casino elevators are fast. Before I can worry about being stuck on the way up I'm at the 21st floor. Stepping out of the elevator room I sweep my gaze through the hallway in both directions.

I'm at the door to my suite in a moment, the lights flicker again as I try my key card. The card doesn't work on the first try or the second on the third swipe I hear the click and i can open the door, it feels like electrical things might be having some issues. Hanging out the do not disturb placard and locking the door I should have enough time to collect my things.

In the room I grab a glass and some ice and pour myself a double. With whiskey in hand I start laying out my supplies. From the room I have my 2 duffel bags, my bathroom kit, 3 outfits hanging in the closet, my shoes, various electronics and their charging cords. I grab my solar powered battery bank and charger and plug it into the wall and my phone into It, with fast charge my phone should topped of quickly.

In a moment my 2 duffel bags are packed and all my gear is ready to go. While I wait for the phone to charge I think it's time to check out my....Spatial Storage?.....Inventory?......Magical space banks?