“So the team was killed during the waves of goblin attacks, leaving you, eventually, as the only survivor. You killed the goblins that came for you, and eventually got the timer to run out and complete the quest?” Lucilla sat across from me now, having settled in as my story got longer and longer.
“Correct.”
“You say there are stats, and level ups? A Class system, with… loot and items?” She scribbled down notes on the small pad in front of her.
I found it a little weird that she wasn’t using a datapad or a digital note app on her phone, instead of going at it analog. But, I wasn’t the super highly trained investigator, so what the fuck did I know, right? I ignored that fact and focused on the story I was feeding her.
“Again, correct.”
“Explain this screen you say you can see, and the information it gives you,” Lucilla continued to write notes as she talked.
As I said, I lied to her about quite a few things. The true state of my stats, and abilities were one of those things. What kind of idiot would I be to give the government complete knowledge of my status screen, after all.
I brought up my status as I sat across from her.
[ Name: Adam Pierce
Titles: Pioneer, True Prodigy, Death Harbinger, Heir to Death
Class: Death’s Disciple
Level: 10
Unspent Stat Points: 0
Stats:
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 41
Vitality: 34
Intelligence: 30
Willpower: 30
Skills: Inspect [Max], Shade Stealth - Lvl 1- Beginner, Marked to Die - Lvl 1 Beginner
Abilities: Soul Usher (F)
Spells: N/A ]
My eyebrows raised for a moment as I took in the display. Things had changed a lot since I last saw it. It took me a moment to realize the +2 bonus to certain stats due to my class was retroactive to all my previous levels, not just for future ones.
That didn’t explain all the bonuses, though, and looking into my earned titles explained a few things further.
[Titles:
Pioneer: Be one of the first 1,000 to complete a Tutorial Dungeon. Reward: +1 to all stats.
True Prodigy: Show exemplary talent and achievements inside a Tutorial Dungeon. Reward: +3 to all stats.
Death Harbinger: Be the only survivor of a Tutorial Dungeon. Reward: Increased Experience From Kills
Heir To Death: ??? ]
Besides the mystery that was the final title, which I received from my class, the first three were rather interesting. Pioneer and True Prodigy essentially gave me six extra levels worth of stat points, not accounting for class contributions, of course. But that was still a rather large boon so early on.
Death Harbinger was not immediately as powerful at first glance. It didn’t say how large the boosted experience gain was. 10%? 50%? More? There was no way to tell, as the System apparently refused to give any additional information even when I mentally clicked on the titles.
After a few seconds I looked back to Lucilla, my lies already sorted and ready.
“I’m a level ten Shade Knight. I have an Inspect skill, along with a stealth skill, and a skill to mark enemies for extra damage,” I said.
Her notes continued.
“My stats are 12, 30, 20, 22, 22, respectively. I have titles for being the first 1,000 to complete a tutorial, and the only survivor of the tutorial. As well as one that says I showed great talent.” I chose not to lie about the titles. As I assumed I wouldn’t be the only exceptional prodigy across all of earth, and my lies on verifiable information would be easy to expose once more information began rolling in from other survivors.
So I told that part to them straight. Except, I kept my last title to myself. I didn’t even know what it did yet anyway, so it wasn’t like I was lying about that part. If you don’t count omissions as lies, that is. It was a scammer’s truth, a politician’s truth. My grandparents had wanted me to go into politics, so it looked like they knew I was good at that kinda stuff after all.
I brought up my inventory next, which showed as a little tab on the screen.
[Inventory:
Main-hand: Steel Runic Sword (Uncommon)
Off-Hand: N/A
Helm: N/A
Armor: N/A
Shoulders: N/A
Waist: N/A
Feet: N/a
Accessories:
Neck: N/A
Ring: N/A
Ring: N/A
Inventory Space: (38/550)
Currency Credits:
Copper: 374
Silver: 12
Gold: 0
Platinum: 0
Crystal Mana Shards: 0 ]
It was about as basic as any RPG game on Earth. Item slots, an inventory space, currency calculator. All things I didn’t bother hiding from Lucilla as I read it all out.
“You have a sword? Show me.”
I gave a shrug at the request, and mentally clicked the item in my main-hand slot.
A glimmering steel longsword suddenly appeared in my grasp as if conjured from thin air. The blade contained a glowing symbol at the base, near the cross guard. But it otherwise looked like I would imagine a basic steel sword to appear. I barely even contemplated the sheer fucking absurdity of being able to summon an item out of nothingness, or that such an item was somehow magical, given the glowing symbol it contained.
Once one got past the whole stat points, quests and goblin slaughtering, the existence of items was rather bland. The average person adapted quickly, and for me it was the same.
“Goddamn, where did… nevermind, put it away.” Lucilla practically jumped from her seat as the weapon came out.
Perhaps, up to this point she thought I was lying about it all, or that I had gone insane and was babbling nonsense due to having almost died. Regardless, the conjuring of a fucking medieval-style longsword meant she believed me now, she had to.
It took only another mental nudge for me to return the item to my system inventory, the weapon shimmered faintly at the edges then vanished as quickly as it had come.
“Okay then,” she said slowly through long measured breaths. “Looks like we have a lot to talk about, after all. You will have to come with us to a new location, Mr. Pierce. There is more we must learn.”
I knew what that meant. Tests, experiments, things that I wanted to avoid but seemed inevitable.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
***
My gloved fist impacted the hardened leather pad with a loud
thwak!
The machine the pad was attached to jostled like a large pudding cup then settled back down before the screen to my right began changing.
1900…
2000..
2100…
Ding!
2183
The screen blinked as it landed on a final number.
“2,183 pounds of force. That’s above the previous world record,” Lucilla Sinclair said with a slight down-turned frown. It almost looked like she was disappointed.
“We done for the day?” I asked as I removed the gloves and tossed them on the table behind me.
It had been three days since I was unceremoniously taken from my life, dropped in a bloodbath, and then promptly moved to a research facility and treated like a new breed of lab rat. All under the watchful eye of Lucilla and many other military personnel, of course.
The facility itself was in a location I didn’t know, but based on the direction and travel time, I guessed I had been taken somewhere near Missouri. This hunch was practically all but confirmed given that the underground caves I was taken through, before reaching this particular locale, was practically filled to the brim with thousands of pounds of cheese.
I had heard rumors from back in the day, but the sheer amount of dairy wheels I saw would bring wet dreams to any hoarding-inclined gamer.
But that’s not important, yet.
Three days of tests, that’s what I had been subjected to.
They had me punching bags, sprinting on long indoor tracks, jumping suspended bars, and boxing with juiced up meat heads that I would have sworn were hand picked from the military steroid injection clinic.
If I didn’t know any better, I could have assumed they were training me for the next Olympic games. But I did know better, and I knew they were testing my limits to understand the changes the System and its stats had on my body.
With base stats between four to six when I first entered the Dungeon, I wasn’t at all a weak guy, and I was rather competent compared to most. So all my stats might have been slightly above average.
Now though…
Barely at level ten I was already, by all practical measures, a super-human. My titles and class were doing the bulk of the difference in that regard, but even someone with a Common tier class would be peak human in almost every regard at that point.
This was confirmed as the others began to be brought in.
Tutorial Dungeon rifts, the white rifts, were already popping up all over the planet. And as a result, people were stumbling into them, or in my case forced into them, and coming out with abilities that defied logic.
Francis was the first that got brought in after me. He was a rather large guy, six foot three, and wide with large muscles. He carried a confidence that was hard to miss, but spoke as amicable as any gentle-giant I had ever met.
“Francis Dupree,” he said to me as he entered the living quarters and offered his large maw of a hand.
“Adam Pierce,” I gave a smile and accepted the handshake, my own hand being swallowed in his grasp.
“Great to meet ya. Crazy shit happening eh? Found myself losing my mind while out camping and fell ass backward into this portal thing with my friends. Wolves all over in there, but I managed to survive despite…” he trailed off there, and the light in his eyes grew distant suddenly. I chose not to pry.
“Good to meet you. I got tossed in by the military. We had goblins. Ugly little fucks, I don’t recommend them over the wolves.” I replied.
“How many got…?” He asked.
“I was the only one who got out,” I said, understanding the question.
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright. So what’d you get? I’m a Shade Knight.”
He flashed a smile containing many crooked teeth, “Rage Warrior.”
“Do you turn green?” I laughed.
“Nah, but you still don’t wanna make me angry.”
Francis became my first fellow lab rat. He was more focused in strength than I, his punches reaching 3000 on the strength bag. But he was slower, and his skills seemed to revolve around using a rage pool he collected during a fight.
He wasn’t the only addition we met. Others trickled in over time, ones and twos, then whole groups. Mages and Clerics were most interesting, and could do things that made no sense based on the laws of physics as we knew them.
Magic.
Fireballs, ice spikes, electric flashes, healing spells and protective barriers. It was insane things that made sense for a videogame, but baffled the mind in reality. It was something all of humanity would come to accept over the next few months, but so early on, even I was aghast by how much power a single person had at their fingertips. And, it would only grow from there.
“The tests for today are over, you can return to your room, Pierce.” Lucilla said as she motioned for an assistant to reset the machine I had just clobbered.
“See you tomorrow then,” I muttered before walking through the large room, past various others undergoing similar tests.
I entered the living quarters, which was a shared space between various connected bedrooms in the facility. I stopped mid-stride toward my own room as I noticed a newcomer standing in the space next to the table containing food and coffee.
He was a rather plain looking guy when it came to height and build, maybe only a tad shorter than myself, with enough muscle to not appear flimsy. But he was rather handsome otherwise, mid length blonde hair, startling blue eyes, and an easy-going smile that put any onlooker at ease.
“Hey,” I waved as I began walking once more. I didn’t really care about meeting all the newbies after so many days. I barely saw any of them between tests anyway.
“Hey!” He shouted back and ran to catch up with me. His smile still plastered to his face.
“Uh, yeah hey. Look, I just finished tests today so I’m just heading to my room.” I glanced his way as he met my pace, but otherwise dismissed him.
“Oh, yeah that’s cool. Just thought I’d introduce myself. I’m new, but you’ll definitely see more of me. I’m the first to get a Legendary Tier class you know.” He said it in a way that didn't really sound like boasting. He looked excited more than prideful, happy to share the information to anyone he met.
I stopped walking at that point and turned to him, now far more interested. “Legendary Tier? What’s the class?”
“Seraphic Paladin!” he beamed. “Cool right?”
“Very,” I offered a hand with a smile, “I’m Adam Pierce.”
“Barry, Barry Schilling,” he said.
1.07 Meeting A Legend