The pain had been searing, every fibre of their brains seeming to have been touched by the unknown force that had rebooted the System. The conversations that started after they came to were full of fear and mistrust. The message had read:
Welcome to System 2.0
You have entered the Age of the Enlightened.
All previous skills and knowledge have been realigned, and you will find new skill paths for future development.
None of them had ever realised that the displays, which had become second nature to them since their coming of age, had even been known as a system or a lesser version. This new System that now covered their displays had altered their understanding, or what little knowledge they had, of the origins and development of their paths.
Kyto’s was the only one out of the five whose display had changed substantially. Before the upgrade, he had no title and had a profession and class that many others in the new world order had followed as that of a scavenger and tinkerer. He now had the title Enlightened, and his profession was Chosen with a class of Wielder. He had no idea what they meant, but his hard-spent effort evolving his skill tree and all the science and engineering that he had learned had been stripped away from his display to be replaced with a specialisation of Arcane Knowledge. He had not forgotten his knowledge, but he still felt he was being cheated with its loss. He had also been assigned a level and an experience tally. These were all new, and he was trying to understand their meaning.
He looked over his display and focused on the new amendments:
Title: Enlightened
Profession: Chosen – the chosen have been selected to participate in the upcoming challenge phase, which commences in 499 days, 23 hours and 38 minutes.
Class: Wielder – your previous knowledge and understanding has allowed you to become a Wielder. A Wielder uses the essence of Mana.
Specialisation: Arcane Knowledge – the knowledge of the universe and its making. Arcane Knowledge allows for using new skill paths to support your continuing growth as a Chosen.
Level: 25 – your current experience level, which will allow for growth and development of your skill path.
Experience: 0 of 50000 – experience gained to the next level of Enlightenment.
“I have no idea what all this means.” He said.
“None of us do, but you are the only one whose display has changed drastically,” Crystal replied.
Lars nodded in agreement, and Tabs hugged his arm where she sat next to him.
“Yeah, but nothing is explaining what this System 2.0 even is and this countdown that seems to be in place now and talking about a challenging phase. What can this even mean?” he said, looking confused and frustrated.
“No idea, but it has to mean something.” Tabs replied. “Have you looked at the specialisations yet?”
“No, not yet. I wish there were some guide to this.” Kyto replied.
“Well, at least see what it says. It may give us some insight,” Crystal added.
Kyto refocused on his display again; he thought over the specialisation tree and where Arcane Knowledge was displayed, with 53 skill points available.
Arcane Knowledge – the knowledge of the universe and its making; Arcane Knowledge allows for the utilisation of new skill paths to support your continuing growth as a Chosen.
He concentrated on the skill tab that flashed next to the comment. A new page opened like the previous skill trees pages he was used to, but everything was blanked out apart from one available option and two greyed-out selections:
Available - Mana Manipulation – allows you to understand the essence of Mana and its many uses.
Wielder Support – allows for the development of party support functions.
Wielder Combat – allows for the development of combat functions.
“OK, so I have one skill choice initially called Mana Manipulation, whatever that means. Then it looks like I have a choice of combat or Support available after that.” Kyto said.
“Well, you know what you must do if you only have one skill available.” Tabs said.
“Yeah.” He replied.
He again focused on his display and selected Mana Manipulation.
Would you like to spend one Arcane Knowledge on Mana Manipulation? Yes/No
Kyto selected yes.
His whole body went rigid, and he gritted his teeth as, once again, it felt like someone was shoving a red-hot poker into his brain. He tried to hold in the scream that he felt building but could not.
Tabs jumped at his reaction and grabbed him by his arm, shaking him violently. “Kyto, Kyto are you ok.”
After several moments, the pain again subsided, and Kyto breathed a deep sigh of relief. He checked his display.
Mana Manipulation - Tier 1 - Level 1, you may now gather Mana from the surrounding environment at 10% efficiency. Further skills can utilise collected Mana. (AK 1)
“I can now gather Mana, whatever that means. Hell. If that pain happens every time, I add a point I am not sure I want to keep going.” He started looking around at the worried faces around the campfire.
“Well, if any Wild Ones are in the area, they will know we are here now,” TJ said bluntly.
“Don’t be an arse TJ. We were all screaming not long ago and sat around a fire. If there are any around here, they already know.” Crystal said, admonishing him.
TJ grumbled in what had become his familiar manner and stood up, walking towards where they had set up their sleeping area inside the nearby building. TJ and Lars had not known anything about the plans to leave the group until after the fact, and although Lars had accepted it immediately, TJ was struggling more with the changes. Not that he had done anything wrong, but his life had been turned upside down instantly, and he was still coming to terms with it.
Lars had a concerned look on his face, watching Kyto closely, and he signed to Crystal.
“Yeah, maybe wait until the morning before doing anything else,” Crystal said to Kyto.
“Probably best,” Kyto replied.
“I think there has been enough excitement for one day. I am going to call it a night.” Tabs said, grabbing Kyto by his hand as she went to stand. Kyto stood, and they both made their way to the sleeping area.
∆∆∆
The howl that had come out of Tiddles had been the most intense sound the world had ever heard. When the System had updated, he happily sat with Sniffer and Elizabeth in their living area above the doctor’s surgery. Tiddles had never felt pain like it; he usually did not suffer many injuries, but he had thought his head would explode as the neural pathway alignment had taken place. He had come around to find both Elizabeth and Sniffer lying on the bed unconscious and had immediately checked them both when he noticed blood streaks coming from their noses and ears. They had been breathing softly, so he had then checked the three cubs; they were all unconscious and looked like they also had bled.
He had then licked his nose and tasted the bitter copper taste of his blood, indicating that he had suffered also. ‘What was that all about?’ he thought as he stood shaking his head. His display was flashing in the corner of his vision. He looked over it:
Welcome to System 2.0
You have entered the age of the Enlightened.
All previous skills and knowledge have been realigned, and you will find new skill paths for future development.
Tiddles was at a loss and jumped straight to his character display. His outline was bright green apart from the slightly darker colour where his thigh wound was still not 100% healed from the Angelore and across his back where the Spylore had bitten him, but it would soon return to normal. He moved to his details page.
Name:
Tiddles
Title:
Enlightened
Species:
Wild One
Sub-species:
Beast
Age:
1
Profession:
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Chosen
Class:
Melee
Figures:
Total points
80
Acrobatics
15
Brawling
15
Charm
9
Defence
12
Endurance
20
Free thinking
9
Specialisation:
Arcane Knowledge
57
Level
25
Experience
0 of 50000
‘OK, this is different’, he thought. He scanned through the details, trying to understand what had changed, but little information was given apart from the strange countdown timer that was now available.
He concentrated on the Arcane Knowledge specialisation and looked over the skill tree that opened; there were to be three choices now open to him.
Physical – a melee fighter’s skill is developed through strength and prowess.
Stealth – not all fights are won in the open.
Elemental – releasing the inner self.
Physical and stealth made sense to him as he used both regularly when hunting and fighting, but elemental was something new. He had no idea what it meant or what it would evolve towards, as all other skill branches were blank. He focused on Elemental and decided to add one point.
Would you like to add one Arcane Knowledge into Elemental? Yes/No
He selected yes. Something started to happen inside himself; he could feel changes occurring in his body. If anyone had been conscious of seeing him, he would have been pulling some rather strange expressions as though he had a giant bubble of wind moving around inside him. It felt as though his organs were moving. It wasn’t painful, just strange and slightly uncomfortable; it was more unnerving than anything else. Eventually, the sensation ceased, and he again opened his display, looking at the skill tree; he was now shown a sub-skill path he could choose.
Elemental Fire Tier 1 – Level 1 - You have released your inner self; the true power of your element can now be trained to support you in times of battle. +5% efficiency to all Fire-based elemental skills. +10% damage to all Ice based life forms. (AK 1)
‘Wow.’ He now had four more increases for the Elemental fire, reaching a maximum of 5. He read about the skills that he could now see.
Elemental Support – allows for the development of support functions.
Elemental Combat – allows for the development of combat functions.
He focused on elemental combat and selected to add one point; again, a similar message came up, but this time stopped him from advancing.
Warning – you may not advance to a tier two skill without the minimum number of skill points at the preceding level.
Would you like to add another skill point into Elemental Fire Tier 1 for two Arcane Knowledge? Yes/No
He selected yes.
Elemental Fire Tier 1 – Level 2 - You have released your inner self; the true power of the elements can now be trained to support you in times of battle. +10% efficiency to all Fire-based elemental skills. +15% damage to all Ice based life forms. (AK 3)
Would you like to add one skill point into Elemental combat - Tier 2; this will use two of your available Arcane Knowledge as a Tier 2 skill. Yes/No
Again, he selected yes. Nothing seemed to happen to him this time, so he jumped straight back into his skill tree.
Elemental Combat – Tier 2 – Level 1 – All those around feel Your fire elemental presence on a battlefield. +5% chance of causing fear in enemies. (AK 2)
There were now two new skills he could choose from.
Flaming Claws – Tier 3 - as your skill improves, the elemental power can be enhanced to allow your claws to burn; heat will become flame as you progress.
Flaming Bite – Tier 3 - as your skill improves, the elemental power can be enhanced to allow your mouth to burn. Eventually, you may breathe fire.
Tiddles was reading through the options, getting excited; he could imagine what he could do to Spylore if he could breathe fire. Then, he suddenly stopped turning around and looked at the three little Spylore cubs still lying unconscious in their crate. He had not even thought it until now, but he could not hunt Spylore anymore now that he had become their surrogate father. He frowned to himself as he mulled over what he should do. Suddenly realising that he was supposed to be checking his skills out, he went back to his display.
He selected Flaming Bite.
Warning – you may not advance to tier three skills without earning the minimum number of skill points at the preceding levels.
‘Damn,’ he thought. He quickly returned, selected Elemental Fire, and added a second point.
Would you like to add another skill point into Elemental Fire Tier 1 Level 3 for three Arcane Knowledge? Yes/No
Tiddles paused and noted his Arcane Knowledge points available. ‘This is going to get expensive very quickly,’ he thought. He was mulling over the costs for advancement when a new icon flashed in the corner of his display. He looked over the Arcane Knowledge Development Chart. He selected the tab.
Tier
Level
Cost
Tier
Level
Cost
Tier
Level
Cost
Tier
Level
Cost
Tier
Level
Cost
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
2
3
3
2
4
4
4
3
6
3
1
3
5
5
4
8
2
6
5
10
3
9
4
12
4
1
4
5
15
2
8
3
12
4
16
5
20
5
1
5
2
10
3
15
4
20
5
25
To learn a tier 3 skill to level 1, he must have his tier 1 skill to level 4 and tier 2 skills to level 3 to allow it to be learned. It seemed each level had to be completed beforehand. To even learn a Tier 3 skill, he would need to use 25 Arcane Knowledge to get it to level 1. Tiddles had started with 57 points available, had already spent five just getting to this point, and had yet to even look at the other skill paths.
‘I better take some time reviewing these before making more decisions.’ He thought.
∆∆∆
Kyto and Tabs lay under their blankets in the corner of the room they had set up. Tabs was resting on his shoulder when Kyto suddenly jumped, sitting upright.
“What is it?” Tabs said, shocked by his sudden reaction.
“Can you not see it?” He said.
“See what?”
Kyto pointed towards the corner of the room where a vine had broken through the derelict structure.
“It’s a vine? What do you mean?” Tabs said, frowning.
“You don’t see it glowing?” Kyto said.
“Glowing? What are you talking about?”
“It’s got a yellow glow to it.”
“I'm concerned that you may have done more to your brain than learn a new skill,” Tabs said.
Kyto continued staring at the vine. He could see the yellow glow that it was emitting, and he had an urge to reach out. As he continued to point towards the vine, a thin yellow strand seemed to peel away from its surface and move towards his hand. He sat mesmerised as it swam towards him and touched his outstretched hand. It was absorbed, and his finger tingled where the contact was. His display triggered.
Mana collection in progress current mana 1 of 200
“Damn. I am collecting mana." He was shocked at what he was seeing and feeling.
A small circle on his display appeared with a thin yellow line at its base.
Tabs sat confused beside him. He stared in wide-eyed amazement as the Mana from the vine was absorbed into his body. After another minute, the colour from the vine began to fade and eventually disappear.
You have collected a total of 4 of 200 mana.
“I have four mana now.” He said.
“And?” Tabs said.
“I have no idea.” He said, letting out a somewhat nervous laugh.
Tabs looked at him with a worried look. “Come on, lie down again; we can look in the morning. Lars is on guard with Crystal, and you are not adding any more skills tonight after the effect that last one had.”
“Yeah, OK.” He said. He lay back down, placing his arm around Tabs. He could not settle for a long time and sat staring at the vine, still in amazement at what he had done. Just as his eyes began to close, he was sure that he saw a faint glow emerge on the vine again. He could no longer keep his eyes open and drifted off to sleep.