The message filled my vision, and despite trying to wave it away, it didn’t disappear.
I looked around the almost pitch black room, with only the faint glow coming from under the door. Shrugging lightly, I just focused on the large ‘Continue’ button.
My sheet then opened on its own. Parts of it were highlighted as new messages kept appearing. It was telling me things that were pretty obvious, since the stats were pretty self explanatory. Strength makes you lift more and hit harder. Perception makes you see and hear better.
Insight was a little odd, mostly related to forming connections between things. Charisma wasn’t about being good with people, but how you projected yourself to others. It was more of a dial, apparently, able to be turned up or down with some focus. And Intelligence didn’t make me smarter, just easier to memorize and recall information.
Mana, Mana Control, and Mana Power were pretty obvious too, but supposedly I wasn’t supposed to have it. Apparently it could only be unlocked by taking a magic based class, or training with a magic teacher. I’ll take the shortcut. Sounds like it would have been a pain.
Skills were earned by doing things related to them. I assessed Severn, so I got the skill for it. I’d probably get a skill for running or climbing if I tried them. Might be a good idea.
Traits were gained through special actions, like the Second Chance one I’d gotten. The example was a bit tamer:
Monster Slayer 1
You’ve killed 10 monstrous creatures and taken a step towards making the world safer. For a few minutes. Keep going, you’ll make a difference. Probably.
Someone had a sense of humor when writing these. I figured whoever had was likely bored when they’d done it. I would be too, writing all this out. Because learning that you got new spells by… learning new spells. That’s all it said.
Things then got more interesting.
Frowning, I checked my status screen again and saw the two traits there: Experience Conversion and Experience Absorption.
Experience Conversion
Converts Banked Experience into Personal Experience Crystals of the specified value. Can also be used to convert Banked Experience into Class Experience at a rate of 4 to 1.
Experience Absorption
Converts Personal Experience Crystals into Banked Experience.
Does this mean I can ignore using banks and… nodes? What are those? I continued reading, but the explanation wasn’t coming.
<100 Class Experience gained>
Wait, doesn’t that mean I have enough to go up a level? How does that work? I looked over to my character sheet and focused on the class.
Class: Noble
The noble is a unique class that one is either born into, or earned for great deeds or wealth. Those of the Noble class gain access to a number of benefits otherwise unavailable, including 3 additional bonus stats to apply where desired, instead of the typical 1. This trait is obtained at level 1 and transfers into any class acquired, as well as the title addition of Noble. For example, Noble Elementalist or Noble Warrior. The class itself is based upon diplomacy, court intrigue, and management of estates, thus its skill bonuses revolve around it.
+1 to Charisma per level
+1 to Intelligence per level
+1 to Insight per level
+3 free attribute points per level
Bonus to skill acquisition for related skills
10% increase in skill leveling for related skills
That’s not what I wanted, but good to know. I tried focusing on the full experience counter and got a better response.
I focused on
I also had 3 more points to spend, so I looked through my character sheet. I’ve got Strength, Constitution, and Insight under level 10 still, not even considering the Mana skills. I don’t even know what those do, so I’ll hold off on those for now.
Which left me with the first three. Insight would go up at my next level, which was at 200 EXP, so I’d leave that alone. That left Strength and Constitution. Strength would make lifting things easier and I’d hit harder, but I don’t know how much fighting I’d be doing yet. Constitution would improve my body in less defined, but important ways, like increased durability and resistance to diseases and poisons.
I made my choice and dropped two into Constitution and one into Strength, which sent more of that tingling throughout my body. It seemed to settle around the middle of my body and among the muscles in my arms and legs. Again, it went away fairly quickly, but I still shook my arms out to try and get rid of the phantom feeling.
After adjusting, I focused on where the tutorial had shrunk down to in the bottom right, bringing it back to the focus.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
<100 Class Experience gained>
Wait, another 100? Just for that? And some of those shop features seemed useful, so I pulled it up real quick to investigate.
After some looking, the cheapest options I found were to improve my Strength and Insight for 500 EXP each, with the next highest being the Encyclopedia and Note functions for 1000 EXP each. I checked through a few more options and finally found the Quest Tab.
It cost 10,000 EXP.
I can’t even hold that much yet. Shaking my head, I thought about it. Would it even be worth getting before that kind of EXP was closer to what I needed to level? Probably not.
I closed the shop, more annoyed than anything else.
Then I opened the next tutorial.
[Note: This feature has been modified by an external source.]
[Compiling changes…]
[Compiling complete!]
[Resuming Tutorial]
I opened up my status window and did as the tutorial said. Suddenly my vision shifted and I could see a number of small dots in my vision, with a really bright one in the center.
The node brightened slightly and a box appeared.
Class: Noble
The noble is a unique class that one is either born into, or earned for great deeds or wealth. Those of the Noble class gain access to a number of benefits otherwise unavailable, including 3 additional bonus stats to apply where desired, instead of the typical 1. This trait is obtained at level 1 and transfers into any class acquired, as well as the title addition of Noble. For example, Noble Elementalist or Noble Warrior. The class itself is based upon diplomacy, court intrigue, and management of estates, thus its skill bonuses revolve around it.
+1 to Charisma per level
+1 to Intelligence per level
+1 to Insight per level
+3 free attribute points per level
Bonus to skill acquisition for related skills
10% increase in skill leveling for related skills
The description I’d stumbled upon earlier lit up.
< - A Number of free attribute points that will carry over to new classes at level 10>
< - Some kind of Trait related to it that will upgrade as the class levels>
< - A Title to add onto future classes (optional)>
The class description disappeared and the Noble Trait description popped up.
Trait: Noble Birth
Great things are expected of you. Born into responsibility, given a head start, and often living a life of comfort, you are a Noble. Noble will be the base class you unlock upon reaching five years of age. Regardless of outside influence, your class and title cannot be taken away. Experience gain, by default, is increased by 10% for all classes.
I didn’t have time to reflect much on how lucky I’d gotten, yet again, as the second I finished reading it, the description closed and more text appeared.
Class: Novice
A Novice has a desire to enter the artisanal arts, but has yet to decide what to do. They gain additional skill acquisition for Performance, Art, or Crafting skills, but no bonuses to skill leveling.
+1 to Dexterity per level
+1 to Perception per level
+1 to Insight per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Art, Crafting, and Performance based skills
Enhanced Focus trait
Class: Initiate
An Initiate is one who has begun their journey into the magical arts. Whether you are an aspiring Elementalist, Mage, or Wizard, this class gives bonuses that will help all magic oriented classes. Note: This class does not provide Mana, Mana Control, or Mana Power. Those stats must be acquired through alternative means.
+1 to Intelligence per level
+1 to Perception per level
+1 to Insight per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Knowledge, Manipulation, and Meta skills.
Notepad system function unlocked
Class: Trainee
A Trainee has begun the path of physical combat. They spend their days training with weapons, exercise, and practicing forms. This class can branch out easily into various types of Warriors, Archers, or Soldiers. Increases Skill Acquisition and Leveling of most Combat, Tactical, or Movement skills.
+1 to Strength per level
+1 to Agility per level
+1 to Endurance per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Combat, Tactical, and Movement skills.
Second Wind trait
Class: Acolyte
An Acolyte puts their faith in something else, and draws on it for inspiration. An alternative magic based class, Acolytes often focus more on external sources of power than internal. This is the start of various Priest, Holy Warrior, or Druidic classes.
+1 to Insight per level
+1 to Intelligence per level
+1 to Charisma per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Communication, Knowledge, and Nature skills
External Mana trait acquired
Class: Sneak
Sneaks are classes that dislike standing out. The shadows and rooftops are their friends, and often find the belongings of others are now their own. Sneaks are the precursor to Thief, Rogue, or Scout oriented classes.
+1 to Agility per level
+1 to Dexterity per level
+1 to Perception per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Stealth, Perception, and Movement skills
Misdirection trait acquired
Class: Outdoorsman
Outdoorsmen are comfortable away from cities and towns. They would rather travel the forests and fields than settle down. An Outdoorsman focuses on hunting, gathering, or harvesting to provide for themselves or others.
+1 Endurance per level
+1 Constitution per level
+1 Perception per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Hunting, Harvesting, and Tracking skills
Backpacking trait acquired
[Amendment: Due to modifications, this lockout does not apply to you.]
<100 Class Experience gained>
Blinking at the sudden end of the tutorial, I stared at my Class EXP total. Did I just get two levels for doing nothing? I wasn’t going to look twice at the gift, spending it immediately on a level. Shuddering as the after effects ran through me, I shook my limbs out.
This time, I only spent one of my free points to bring Strength up to 10. I didn’t know what to spend the other two on, though. I could start leveling my magic stats… But which one first?
Thinking about it, I shrugged and dropped the two into the Mana attribute. The tingling was… different this time, though. It felt like something was added, but no matter how long I looked, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
With a sigh, I closed all my menus and closed my eyes. I’ll look into it when day comes.
I was about to resign myself to trying to sleep when I remembered that I had a manual to look at.
I brought up the Vendal Main Menu. It mostly just showed the options for the various system functions, but also included the ‘Moderator's Handbook’. With a shrug I opened up and started to look through it. The wording used was specific, cold, and, most of all, incredibly boring.
I was unconscious in less than ten minutes.
Name: Danielle Rosecrest
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Noble 3
Class EXP: 14/400
Experience Bank: 0/1000
Unspent Attribute Points: 0
Statistics
Physical
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 12
Agility: 12
Endurance: 10
Constitution: 10
Mental
Intelligence: 14
Insight: 10
Charisma: 12
Perception: 10
Magic
Mana: 3
Mana Control: 1
Mana Power: 1
Skills
Assessment: Tier 0, Rank 2
Traits
Noble Birth
Experience Conversion
Experience Absorption
Moderator’s Veil
Second Chance
Spells
Healing: Tier 0 Rank 1
Scan: Tier 0 Rank 1
Agility: How fast you can move your body
Endurance: How much stamina you have and how long your body can work without rest.