K-k-k-k-karacter kreation. k-k-k-k-kontinued_Wrong Hero

“Interesting choices,” the voice continued. “While nothing like what I would have guessed a hero would choose, there is likely a reason that, of all the humans in your world, you were summoned. I shall not second guess prophecy.

‘Did the narrator just question my character creation?’ Colton wondered to himself.

“The next blessing to choose from is the role your character shall play. Other than ultimately hero, your journey can weave through any number of paths, and your avatar can fill any number of roles. Much like water can fill the shape of any container, Aqueos shall gift you the ability to pick a job of your choosing. As you gain new points as you increase in levels, you shall also gain new skills and perks, oftentimes decided on the job you choose for yourself.”

Colton could not help but think that that particular in-world justification was a little shoehorned in, but still a little clever. Most players would be more than willing to suspend their disbelief if the gameplay was good, but it was hard not to appreciate the effort being put in.

Similar to how all the races had appeared before, now there were dozens of different versions of his avatar, all wearing different clothes and wielding different weapons. He saw a pirate Fiona, wielding a rapier and musket, which Colton could not view as anything but incredibly awesome. One avatar version could not be seen underneath heavy plate armor while wielding what he guessed was a giant two-handed broadsword that Cloud Strife might have thought was a little too much. There were archer Fiona’s and fencer Fiona’s, and even one Fiona wielding what appeared to be a giant crossbow-type contraption. If his memory served him well, he was pretty sure they were called arbalests.

Looking around, he spotted a Fiona that appeared to be strumming on a stringed instrument. A lute perhaps? Did this game have lutes, or did they have some other made-up fantasy equivalent? Well, given how much already appeared to be cribbed from fantasy, he had to guess it was something that had long since existed in either the real-world, in fantasy, or in both. In that case, probably a lute.

Colton had two thoughts about the lute. First was that it was the closest equivalent to a guitar, which he still had very mild aspirations to practice on more than once or twice a month. The second was his memory of the first Final Fantasy game, a game that he and Winston had played through together on a salvaged Nintendo he had refurbished after finding an original cartridge buried underneath piles of hand me down clothes in a thrift store and managed to snag for $5. In that game, a lute was given to the 4 heroes of light early on in the game, with no seeming in-game use until the very endgame when, for some reason, the lute opened a portal the party needed to go through.

Were either of these good reasons to choose a bard-type character in a video game? Unlikely if one was trying to optimize their character build. However, if one was just randomly picking based on random life experiences, then still probably not, but it is what Colton ended up doing anyways.

For the first time, the voice seemed perplexed. “Another intriguing choice. A bard will have little combat prowess, and, until you reach the deadlands your ability to persuade or motivate others through song or speech will be greatly limited…on the other hand, perhaps your choice is inspired after all! Rather than facing the legions of the dead yourself, perhaps you will be the sole force that can unify all the races together for a final stand!” The voice perked back up. “Yes! Never would have I considered a choice, but truly such a mighty army comprising all the races of the world standing against the armies of the dead would be a fitting tale to complete the prophecy.”

‘Whatever,’ Colton could not help but think that far too much effort was put into programming the AI to rationalize the players choices. Once again though, he could not help but think that some players would be into that level of dialogue. ‘Wonder how many responses can be generated, and if there is any choices he could make that would thoroughly perplex that narrator’s AI?’ Looking at his character sheet, he now saw another column listing his chosen job.

Name:

Fiona

Level:

Dexterity

Race:

Orc

Strength

Job:

Bard

Constitution

Intelligence

Charisma

Wisdom

“Igenous shall provide your next blessing. While you can choose to wield any weapon you find, he shall soulbound one weapon and one armor piece. That bond will allow your weapon and armor to grow as you do. As you level up, you may add new characteristics to it to increase their strength. Furthermore, if they are broken or even completely destroyed, it will repair itself and return to your hands. How quickly it repairs depends on how strong it is, and how severe the damage.”

Colton could not help but wonder at how much time had passed. If this character creation took too much longer, Winston would be back and wanting to play before he had even made it to the game and took a single step. Wanting to hurry things along, he looked at the options available to him. There were several musical instruments, and pretty much any conceivable piece of armor one could imagine. In addition to the musical instrument, multiple lightweight weapons (daggers, compact crossbows, a rapier) made an appearance as well. Not wanting to think too much, Kolton took a look at the lutes on hand, and thought for a moment:

‘Hmm. I was able to change my name, wonder if I can change the wea...”

Before the thought was finished, one of the lutes changed to closely resemble a modern guitar. While still appearing to be made in the style of a medieval fantasy world, every shape and string yelled “GUITAR” to Colton’s sight.

Wanting to quickly make another choice, he suddenly spotted a piece of armor that looked Lucy Lawless might wear as Xena: Warrior Princess, if the writer’s room and costume department was staffed entirely by frat boys. This particular piece, probably already a bit much for prime time viewing, had even more pronounced curviture to fit his avatar’s proportions. Not contemplating the impracticalities of “boob armor,” Colton made his selection and looked at his character sheet again as it updated.

Name:

Fiona

Level:

Dexterity

Race:

Orc

Strength

Job:

Bard

Constitution

Soulbound weapon:

Modified lute

Intelligence

Soulbound armor:

Shaped chestpiece

Charisma

Wisdom

Before Colton could second guess his choices, the voice spoke up once again. Even though the entire space was utterly silent, he could not help but sense a that there had been a long pause before the voice began:

“…well, it is not my place to second guess the chosen hero. While definitely an unconventional weapon, you will need an instrument if you plan to motivate your armies with song. And the armor choice. Well, it will definitely get your army’s attention.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

There was another long pause that it was hard not to notice or comment on, before the voice spoke again.

“Much like the wind can go anywhere and touch anyone, Aeolus has gifted you the ability to learn any task. First, we shall take the skills you already know, and using Themius’ blessing, convert that knowledge into raw numbers. A zero, of course, represents no knowledge of a subject. 50 represents a high level of proficiency. Finally, 100 represents an unparalleled mastery few could ever hope to achieve on a single skill, even with a lifetime of dedication. After your previous life skills are calculated, Aeolus will gift you an additional 30 points to add to existing skills, or to instantly provide skills in new ones. At each level you will receive another 10 points to increase your proficiency in whatever skill you choose. Why, with ten levels, you could do something unheard of and reach unparalleled mastery in whatever skill you choose!”

Suddenly his character sheet changed once again:

Name:

Fiona

Level:

Dexterity

Race:

Orc

Strength

Job:

Bard

Constitution

Soulbound weapon:

Modified lute

Intelligence

Soulbound armor:

Shaped chestpiece

Charisma

Wisdom

Skills

Healing

Martial arts

Modified lute

Acrobatics

Archery

Singing

Drawing

Cooking

Swimming

Tinkering

Fencing

Mapreading

Two things struck Colton. The first was how this game could possibly know what real-world skills he had that would apply to a video game world. The second was that, however it knew, it was hard not to be a little insulted. A 3 for signing seemed low enough that it would not even be worth including, but given the boos he had received during more than one drunken night of karaoke, also seemed like its probably accurate. Healing was probably the first aid classes he had taken. Likewise, the physical ones probably came from the random physical education courses he had taken at the community college. Mapreading probably was a mix of the survival course he had taken, and how often he had to use maps to navigate around the city on his bike. He was shocked by the low number of skills (although how many real-world skills truly transferred to a fantasy world?), but also how low the skills were in general. Not single skill above 20, and several skills were barely better than nothing at all.

With a sigh, he closed the status screen with a thought, and was suddenly presented by screens upon screens he could apparently choose from, each of which contained a skill to which he could add points. He quickly took in a few

Skill

Reading

Your ability to quickly read and absorb the written word. Higher reading skills allow more complex texts to be read, and the highest skill levels allow the owner to understand non-standard writing, such as runes used for imbuing.

Mana manipulation

Magic permeates the world, and being able to manipulate mana allows practitioners to increase their mana regeneration rate, customize their spells, or even interrupt other spellcasters

Brawling

Lacking any formalized training or method, being able to brawl better generally comes down to throwing a harder punch, and being able to absorb a punch. Useful in pubs and bars, less useful in the wilderness against animals and monsters

Not wanting to spend too much more time perusing the list, Colton saw something that caught his eye.

Skill

Sleight-of-hand

Close up magic? Card tricks? Quickly flipping a coin between your knuckles? Skills like these all benefit from sleight-of-hand. While it won’t gave you the ability to do magic, it can allow you to trick others into thinking you can do magic

Perfect. Among the numerous things Colton had not gotten around to studying, but had wanted to, was close-up magic. While picking the skill in the game would obviously not make him proficient in the real world, it might still be interesting to see what sort of mechanics it might unlock in the game. 30 points to “sleight-of-hand” it was.

Name:

Fiona

Level:

Dexterity

Race:

Orc

Strength

Job:

Bard

Constitution

Soulbound weapon:

Modified lute

Intelligence

Soulbound armor:

Shaped chestpiece

Charisma

Wisdom

Skills

Healing

Martial arts

Modified lute

Acrobatics

Archery

Singing

Drawing

Cooking

Swimming

Tinkering

Fencing

Mapreading

Sleight-of-hand

“Ferrous' blessing shall be next,” the voice spoke up as if in a hurry to move things along. “While his initial blessing shall be small, it is this blessing more than any other that will help you grown and evolve. Inside every creature, yourself included, is a fire that burns. The more powerful the creature, the more powerful the fire. Starting out, your fire shall be small, but as you challenge yourself with new tasks, the fire will burn brighter and brighter. Enemies you vanquish shall yield a portion of their fire that you can add to your own. In this way, you will gain experience from battle and your own actions, allowing you to grow and progress. While each of your skills and abilities you can grow on your own, levelling up will be the quickest way to grow in power. Starting out, Ferrous blessing will allow you enough experience to gain the first level.”

Level up!

+1 characteristic point per level

+10 skill points per level

+1 perk for first level, +1 perk every five levels after

Choose your first perk!

The voice continued before Colton could think on the choices presented:

“Erious' gift shall provide for you perks, of which you have already received one for your first level. Perks are powerful, but can create random effects not duplicatable through magic. Perks can completely change how you interact with the world. Choose them carefully, as their effects will vary beyond what their description might indicate.”

‘Ugh, choose carefully?’ Colton had by now grown tired of the character creation and wanted to actually be able to play the game for a time before his roommate came home. The promise it was showing so far was pretty amazing, and he still had not actually begun the true gameplay. Looking at the perks available, he picked the first one he saw:

Perk

Imbue weapon

Utilize magic to briefly imbue your weapon with a variety of effects. Make it harder than its base materials would otherwise be. Make it radiate cold. Make it lengthen or widen as needed. It's magic, its limitations are entirely up to you (and your mana pool).

‘Mana pool, I haven’t seen any indicators of a mana pool yet…’ before he could look at his character sheet to add his points and see his additional perk, the voice spoke up again.

“And with that, the avator of the hero is created. It shall take you across the entirety of our world, and lead you to the very doorstep of the god of death himself. You are the chosen hero, and while fate may have chosen you, how you choose to proceed is up to you. I will now being the process of sending your completed avatar to the world, with you inside of it”

‘Nice speech,’ Colton thought as he pulled up his sheet and added his ability point to charisma and his skill points to sleight of hands, and saw the final additions that had been added:

Name:

Fiona

Level:

Dexterity

Race:

Orc

Strength

Job:

Bard

Constitution

Experience:

100/200

Intelligence

Mana:

50/50

Charisma

Soulbound weapon:

Modified lute

Wisdom

Soulbound armor:

Shaped chestpiece

Skills

Healing

Martial arts

Modified lute

Acrobatics

Archery

Singing

Drawing

Cooking

Swimming

Tinkering

Fencing

Mapreading

Sleight-of-hand

Perk

Imbue weapon

Prank magic

Hey kid, you are not what any of us were expecting, and I dig that. I had to bend the rules a bit, but here’s an extra perk for making things interesting. Think of Prank Magic like Roger Rabbit rules, you can do just about anything you want, but only if it’s funny.

Inspect

If Erious can bend the rules a bit, it seems orderly that I would be able to restore order and balance by ALSO providing a perk. Inspect will allow you to visualize characteristics of the world around you. While you are the only one who has "levels," Inspect will also estimate the level of your enemies and allies.

Colton sensed the vast whiteness around him slowly fading, and sensations slowly returning (it is weird how quickly someone can get used to seeming to have no arms, legs, or a body). As he started to shift to what he assumed was the game world, he heard the voice speak up again, this time more distant.

“Odd hero, I notice you have changed your name. While there is nothing wrong with this, I am curious why you chose to do so?”

This was the first time the voice had truly asked him a question, rather than just spoken at him, so he decided to humor the AI with an honest response.

“Oh, Winston isn’t my name, it’s my roommate, I’m just playing his game until he gets home. Also. I didn’t want to use my own name, and Fiona seemed funny.”

There was another of those heavy pauses before the voice spoke one last time.

“Wait! You’re not Winston?” The voice was now incredibly distant, but also incredibly panicked. “Oh, fu….”

Then, everything went white.

K-k-k-k-karacter kreation. k-k-k-k-kontinued

目录