It took a moment for Vittorio to understand what happened. His first thought was that he had gone blind - but then realised his eyelids were closed. He could not move them, and in his attempts to get help realised he could not move his arms or speak either. Just as panic began to truly set in something happened. His mind… changed. And in his mind he perceived meaning - not words, not language, but pure meaning. There was no voice, of course, yet the meaning was clearly alien to him, and he felt as though had there been a voice it would have made his ears bleed.

  

  A mortal mind The Place Which Is Not is reaching. The mind others is opened to. Harm the mind will not have been done to.

  A myriad of meanings from a thousand thousand intents followed. Most meant the same thing:

  

  The mind interest is and may not be of, but may. {This} waits.

  But some clearly stood out to him, like screams in a sea of whispers:

  

  Contact mind with sought is. Welcome inevitable was. {The Singular Direction} approves.

  

  The mind knowledge sufficient contains. {The Exchange} contact is accepting.

  

  The mind is and knows. The mind {Strength of Weakness} may approach.

  

  The mind affected will have been. The mind will wait. {This} touch accepted will have.

  Vittorios eyes opened.

  “And that’s all there’s to it! If you open the Interface you’ll see the Class entry isn’t empty… Is something wrong?” Master Kahe didn’t seem to have noticed anything.

  “Uh, I think so. It’s just… when you finished and I guess I gained the class, something happened. I sort of sensed things.”

  The excited [Class Guide] reached into a drawer and withdrew pen, ink, and parchment. He started a thorough questioning but Vittorio didn’t have many answers. Still, he seemed pleased.

  “I presume this was some form of first contact with the entities you can make pacts with. Why don’t you open your Interface and have a look?”

  “There isn't much, just two active skills really. It also says I have a racial trait?”, Vittorio said, confused.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Yes, each race of people has one - you just didn’t know about it. Us dwarves can see in the dark, minotaurs have tough skin and so on. Some have more complex traits, like merfolk or crystallines.”

  “Crystallines are real?”

  Master Kahe laughed. “Oh yes, they’re real, though there aren’t many of them. I met two in Bracca once. Very nice people, though they were a bit nervous at first - seems they’d been told stories about how dwarves were going to try to mine them! But nevermind that, keep looking around.”

  Vittorio did. He focused on what he assumed was the core of his class:

  He saw that there were three available pacts. As he wondered what they were, the screen changed.

  Seeing {The Exchange} Vittorio couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about not obeying his parents. What’s done was done, however, and at 1 gold per day he wasn’t expecting to form a pact with it anytime soon - nevermind his nose falling off!

  He told Master Kahe what the screen said. The dwarf looked through the entry in the tome. It seems everyone who had gained the class had been in contact with {The Singular Direction} immediately, and {The Exchange} had been noted, but {Strength of Weakness} hadn’t been recorded before.

  After that Vittorio got an introduction to some of the mechanics of the system: How to pick Talents once he started getting them at level 2; How Tiers work; And perhaps most confusingly how ratings work.

  "Understanding ratings take some time", Master Kahe said. "It's only natural to think 'If I'm Good I'm Good' but it's a bit more complicated than that. For starters, the scale is for your level. Being Good at something at level 1 is very different from being Good at level 50. Every time you go up a Tier - that is, every 10 levels - all your ratings go down. You're not forgetting anything of course, you're just comparing to people of a higher level.

  "Second, there are actually two kinds of rating: Current and Natural. Current is what you’re currently capable of, while Natural is what your body and mind thinks it should be. Gaining a rating increase from your class or a Talent increases the Natural rating. It doesn’t make you immediately stronger, but it makes it much easier to reach that level of Current rating. You still need to work for it."

  In Vittorios case, [Pactmaker] set a minimum Natural rating of Adequate in Adaptability and Learning: Experience. He had a look at his Attributes screen.

  Looks like his current Adaptability was below his natural rating. He also noticed that his Attribute ratings were gone, and his ratings in Learning had decreased - presumably because he now had a class. Master Kahe confirmed that was the case: As he has a class the Interface hides Attribute suitability, and his previous Trait ratings were for someone without a class while his current are for Tier 0.

  “So I should practise being adaptable? What does that even mean?”

  “Let’s have a look in the Tome.” Master Kahe closed the book before holding his hand over the cover and muttering “Adaptability Trait”. Once more the book opened on his own, though this time only a few dozen pages in. Master Kahe skimmed the text for a little bit. “As I thought, but it never hurts to double check. There are examples but the gist is to experience new things and to be accepting of them - that is to say, you try to fit in and act the way the situation calls for rather than how you normally are.”

  “Okay”, Vittorio said. “I think I can do that.”

  “I know you can”, said Master Kahe. “And I’d like to remind you that your Natural rating is a minimum, there’s no reason at all why you could not get even better - in any Trait. Many people just raise their Natural rating with Talent points but to be truly great, one must work hard. That’s not to say you shouldn’t raise your ratings with Talent points, but choose carefully. Raise ones you struggle to raise on your own, ones you consider vital, or ones you don’t know how to practise.”

  “Okay. Any other advice about Talents?”

  “There are many schools of thought and many books written on it. My own, personal belief however is simple though not easy: Be true to yourself. Choose Talents you want and that feel right. That’s not to say you should be impulsive, but don’t let others decide for you. It’s your life and your choice, and time goes on regardless of what you pick. Don’t let that be a time of regret.”

  The two continued speaking for a while with Master Kahe giving some more information on how the Interface and System works, but soon enough they shook hands and Vittorio stood to leave the room.

  “One moment, Vittorio. I told you the Society would pay you for information and so it shall. I’m afraid I don’t know exactly what you are owed, but…” He opened a drawer and started counting coins. “I will give you part of it at least. It should help you get started.” He placed a small pile of coins on the table and pushed it towards Vittorio. There were 3 gold coins amongst the silver and copper. “That’s 5 gold, two in silver and copper. Much easier to spend that way.”

  Vittorio stared at it. He’d never seen gold before. “Are you sure?”

  Master Kahe smiled. “The Society pays well for new information! And getting started as an adventurer is expensive. I wish you the very best of fortunes, Vittorio Merchant.”

  In a daze he picked up the coins, gave an awkward bow, and left the room. Gloria stood by the front door to the town hall and whatever she saw on his face seemed to worry her.

  “So, uhm…” Vittorio started. “Is there a Company hall here or?” Glorias hug almost knocked him off his feet.