Getting back to the guild, I made my way to Jamie. Found him lying on a couch, muttering to himself, wearing his PC glasses. I walked over and saw that his hands were over his chest, looking like he was typing something. So I stood by and waited. A few minutes passed until he noticed me.
“Arthur! Sorry, I was working on biology homework! What’s going on?”
I smiled at him. I knew he was smart, but I was fairly certain that was high school material. “Nothing much, just wanted to use your particular service myself. If you’re not too busy, that is.”
He brightened up at that. “Never for you! Gimme a sec to pull the tome out, though. I got a special pocket for it! It’s called soul-bound spatial storage!”
I frowned for a moment. I didn’t think someone his age should have anything soul-bound. But apparently the system did.
He shuffled around a moment, making room for me on the couch, then humming a moment. Then there was a large leather tome in his lap. Or should I say on, since it was almost the size of his torso. I blinked at that. I hadn’t realized how large the tome was.
“What are you thinkin’ of focusing on? I figured out a sorta focus to ask for, which helps my clients narrow down the type of skills they want. Instead of like a thousand little skills everybody could use. Like, there’s a ‘create water’ spell. At level one, it’s just enough to make a handful or two of water. Enough for a few drinks. But at level forty? It’s enough to mow down a tree!”
I stared. The kid was invested. “That’s really cool, Jamie. You’ve been searching through the tome, then?”
“Oh yeah! I’ve been learning all sorts of skill builds. In games, there’s usually a tank, DPS, and support. A good party is usually something like a tank, two melee DPS, a ranged DPS, and a healer. Sometimes, one of the DPS can be an off-tank to support the main tank for breaks. Or to let the healer get to them. The ranged DPS is mostly a mage. Or archer, I guess. Unless you have both. Or a larger party. But you have to have a tank, two DPS, and a support. That’s the core. But there are a thousand utility spells and skills in here. A ton of neat passives that anybody can use.”
As I listened, I saw how engaged he was. It was then that I knew I had made the right decision in having him as the skill selector. He was truly invested in making people better. “As you know, I’m mainly a crafter. I only got through the dungeon because I crafted weapons. I have a skill that calms me down in the dungeon and helps me process what I’m doing. But it helps me outside the dungeon, too, now. This might be a little heavy for you, but have you looked at the mind-altering skills?”
Jamie frowned for a second. Then deepened his frown. “I did, yeah. Some of them can get really bad. Especially if they evolve. Tell me which one you took.”
“Organized Thoughts. It’s only level 23. I needed it to get through the dungeon the first couple of times. And it helped when I stayed in the dungeon too long. It let me keep focus and stay on track. It also helped me keep a clear head and know when I needed to leave the dungeon.”
Jamie took a minute to flip through the tome. I just waited for him to search. He read a few pages. Looked up at me. Then flipped a few pages forward. Then read a few more. Then sighed.
“Mom told me. About the white room. She was super calm. About how she felt she should be panicking. Then she was back in the car, and it was still moving. She almost hit a truck. She was almost hit by another car. She said that she was under a skill. She didn’t tell me the name. But I think I know which it was. You picked the pre-evolution of that skill, didn’t you?”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought about the people who were in vehicles until later. I had pushed it away. Or about the people in airplanes. Would they have been put back in the plane, or exactly where they had been? I pushed the thought away. I didn’t want to know the answer.
“I did. Because I wasn’t in a good state before the system. It sort of gave me a greater purpose. A chance to be more than I was. Kind of like a superhero. This became my calling. This is my chance to be a better man. I want to make the world a better place. And now I have the chance to do so. So I’m trying to. Do you understand that?”
He thought for a few minutes. I just waited. He was only 12. But he lived with a single mother. That gave him a greater level of maturity than most kids his age. He understood debt, rent, and finances more than most college students. He watched his mother work hard for little pay. He watched her struggle, watched her stand tall. Watched her be a woman in a society that would shame her.
There was a reason Maggie worked in fast food. Even when she had too many things going on. Lucas let her work as many hours as there was daylight. If Jamie was in school, Maggie was at work. On weekends, we could find Jamie in a back booth doing homework, or on a handheld console while Maggie worked. Jamie had overnighted at Katie’s, Lucas’ and mine before. We all kept an eye on him. Maggie was one of our own.
There was a reason I made rooms in the guild. There was a reason I kept these people here. There was a reason I would not abandon them. Even if I had a different job. I would still have helped take care of Jamie.
Jamie looked up at me. “You’re different from how you used to be. You seem calmer. Like you were carrying something heavy, and you finally put it down. Does the skill help? Or does it just make it easier? Cuz if it’s doing all the work, then you shouldn’t evolve it. It’ll change you too much.”
I sat back on the couch and thought about that. Had I changed? I went from a dead-end job to a save-the-world type. I had always been a protector. Even as a child. But now? I could protect even more. Is it just because I have the opportunity to? The time, money, and chance? Do I have the necessary skills to help as many as I can? That I chose what felt right at the get-go, that I could help so many?
Jamie stared at me. Completely calm. He just waited. Apparently, I needed a moment of self-reflection. Because I had changed. When I made something useful, my first thought was to sell it cheap. Then, to sell it directly to hospitals.
I paused at that. Selling it cheaply now? Would dungeons always give the same amount of credits? This was just a level 1 dungeon. Would a level 2 give more credits? Would my wands become even easier to access as the dungeon level rose? Would I have to recraft them to make them more powerful? To match the dungeon level?
Or would they be as powerful as the dungeon itself? Since the current dungeon is 50 times Earth’s mana, does that mean the wands are 50 times as strong? As the dungeon levels will the mana density be even stronger? Will my wands become stronger as the mana density becomes stronger?
I honestly didn’t know. I looked to Raven. I wanted to ask. But I didn’t know how to articulate my questions. How to interpret them for the system. Would Raven even be able to answer? When don’t we have a dungeon high enough level yet?
I took a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I repeated this several times. Right now, I should focus on skills. Maybe get a few passives. See what the skill cost was. I had 40 skill points.
Once I had a better measure of calm, I reopened my eyes. Jamie was flipping back and forth through the tome. He was muttering to himself again. It wasn’t clear what he was saying. So I sat and watched him decide my future.
“Okay, so I don’t think you really need combat skills so much. Unless you really want dual-wielding. It keeps popping up for you. There are a few passives that sparkle when I look at them. But it’s mostly crafting skills that want my attention. What do you want to focus on?”
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
I blinked. Dual-wielding would be useful. But there were actually a few combat skills and passives I was interested in. I told Jamie so. “I know what the next dungeon looks like. I need trap disarming, or something close to it. Or trap detecting. Our dungeon is going to level up soon, and it’s rune-based. I need to be able to learn a new language more easily. Or increase my mental faculties, without changing my actual self. Thoughts?”
Jamie squinted at me. Then started humming. The tome flipped pages by itself for a moment, then landed open on his lap. “Ok, so there are a few passives that could help. One is Mental Acuity, it increases your mental processing. It’s a passive that helps you think faster and mentally process things better. Like upgrading a calculator. Or going from an old computer to a newer one. It can subtly change your personality, because you’ll understand more about things. You can gain a subtle superiority complex around people. Unless you put in serious effort not to. It costs 30 skill points.”
He looked up at me. In slight judgment. I shook my head. He nodded. Then hummed again. The tome shifted pages.
“Ok, another passive. Also, 30 skill points. Polyglot makes it easier to learn alternative languages other than your native language. Includes things like runes and hieroglyphs. The problem is, it doesn’t always include writing or speaking. So if you learned the written language, you might not know how to speak it. Or vice versa. You’d have to learn them separately. You can learn more languages as you level up the skill. At level 1, you can only start learning the basics of a second language. If you progress with a second or third language too fast, you can lose some of your native language. Which kinda sucks.”
He gave me a look. I shrugged. “Put a pin on it,” I said. He nodded. Then hummed again.
A new page. “Ok, let’s see here. Another passive. You’re all about the new dungeon, aren’t you? Prioperception. Become more aware of your surroundings. Things like traps, dangers, and beings in your radius are more likely to be noticed. It can be used in dungeons. Huh, there’s an actual warning on this one. Caution: The user will likely become hyperaware at advanced levels. It can be increased to paranoia. That’s new. Must be why it’s cheaper at 10 skill points. Worth it?” He looked at me.
I gave a nod. “Yeah. That’s worth it. You said it’s a passive. Do those have a toggle?”
Jamie looked back at the tome. “This one doesn’t, no. That’s why the caution, I guess. You still want it?”
I nodded. “Raven, please purchase the skill proprioception for me.”
“Confirmed. 10 skill points used. 30 left.”
I looked back at Jamie, who gave me a side eye. Right, I never explained Raven to him. So I did. Right then. He laughed at me, telling me Raven could have told me of all the skills in the tome as well. I felt a little sheepish at that.
“I still needed advice anyway. I was never much into games. Unless you count the old-style one. What you would call retro now.”
Jamie simply nodded at that. Then hummed again. And frowned. Looked at me. Then down at the tome. “For some reason, Mana Regen wants your attention. Like seriously. So does Increased Mana. They’re fighting for you to look at.”
I blinked. I did use mana a lot in the dungeon. But not so much outside it. “Tell me the descriptions?”
“Mana Regen is just what it sounds like. It regenerates mana faster. Outside and inside a dungeon. The higher the level, the faster the regen. Increased Mana, same thing. Gives you more internal mana. Higher level, more mana. They both cost 20 skill points.”
Damn, if I hadn’t purchased prio, I could have gotten both. “I think I’m leaning towards mana regen. What do you think? I can only regen mana if I sleep. Increased mana won’t help with that.”
Jamie slowly nodded. “That does make sense. If you have mana regen, then you won’t sleep as much? Do you have a sleep skill?”
“Two actually, Optimal Repose at 26, and All Sleep at 24. I leveled them up quite a bit in the dungeon. They work in sync well.”
Jamie flipped through the tome. Read a moment, then flipped again. “Huh, yeah. And they both can evolve into the same thing or something different. So there’s that too. Neat. So mana regen? You only have 20 points left?”
I shook my head. “30, but I bought prio. So, unless there are other skills for 10, I think that’s all for now.”
Jamie sighed. “Most of the crafting skills are cheap, you know. Some as low as 5.”
I frowned. “Mine were all 20. Why so low?”
Jamie shrugged. “Likely because you bought all-around skills. And not individual skills. Also, hey. Are any of your skills close to cap?”
I nodded. He muttered and sighed. “You’ll need a bunch of skill points to evolve them, too. So make sure you stock up, ok?”
I sighed. Then nodded. “I’ll keep my last 10, then. I’m only 15 levels away in enchanting. Which I do near constantly.”
Jamie stared at me. Blinked. And stared some more. Then started muttering under his breath, mostly about his age and the unfairness of it. I bid him goodbye and went up to my office.
“Raven, purchase mana regen for me, please.”
“Purchase confirmed. 10 skill points left.”
I felt something in myself then. A warmth I hadn’t known I needed. It pulsed once, twice, thrice. Then stopped. “Raven. How many wands do we have total as of now?”
“167 auto-size wands. 132 pristine wands. 174 force wands. 183 gravity wands.”
I nodded. “Good. It’s about time to visit the land management, isn’t it?”
“Confirmed. It will take the user approx. 35 minutes to arrive in Sky Trail.”
“Well then. I guess we'd better start heading there now. Buy me some sushi to eat on the way, please? Nothing spicy, and no calamari, ok?”
“Confirmed. 4 credits spent. Deposited into inventory.”
I made my way down to the garage. I had nearly an hour to get there. But I wanted to make an impression. I’ll change in my van. Sky Trail was waiting all nice and ready for me. I didn’t get into the driver’s seat.
“Raven, can you operate Sky Trail to where we need to go? I’m going to change and have an actual shower.”
“Confirmed. ETA 35 minutes.”
“Thanks, Raven.”
I barely felt the van move as I stripped and stepped into the shower. I used my pristine wand on myself first. I just wanted to feel the water. I hadn’t felt hot water on me since the dungeon, days ago.
Stepping out, I dried off, using my pristine wand again. Then I carefully selected my clothes. Simple grey silk pants, silk grey boxers. Light blue silk button-up. I had noticed I was sweating less, even in Texas July heat. I was grateful. But I laid the blame on my level-ups. Saying that I was just more heat-tolerant now. Still, I put on a little deodorant.
I thought about a tie, but decided against it. I wasn’t dressing up for these monkeys. They were just blustering at me. The system owned the land now. Not the government. They wanted me to give them proper paperwork, when everything was going through the system now.
I sat and ate my sushi with my bottle of tea. When I finished, I drank some coffee. Then I let my mind calm. I was ready for whatever these jokers had in store for me. They can moan and groan all they like. The land would legally be mine by the end of the day.
Raven parked Sky Trail right outside the government building. I looked up and down the street. Then nodded. “Raven, I think this parking might be illegal. Think I should store Sky Trail?”
“Sky Trail is a system vehicle. It can not be towed, tagged, nor chained. User is free to park in any open place.”
I chuckled at that. Then walked away from my van. People staring between me and it. So I walked in. Looked up the land management office and took the elevator. Completely ignoring the front desk and receptionist.
There was a separate secretary here. So I introduced myself and told him I had a 3 o’clock appointment.
He apologized and said it was for tomorrow instead. To which I replied, “That’s fine, my purchase will go through by 6pm today, with or without this office. They just wanted some paperwork signed before the purchase. If the appointment is tomorrow, then I don’t have to sign anything.”
The secretary blustered that I couldn’t make any such purchase without them.
I simply smirked. “I made the purchase through the system. Not through this office. They just wanted to get in my way. I’m not letting them. If they want to play games, I’ll just ignore them. Simple as pie. Have a good day now!”
With that, I simply walked out. Took the elevator back down to the first floor and left the building. I found a police officer writing me a ticket. I smiled at him. “Good afternoon, officer. How can I help you?”
He sneered at me. “This vehicle isn’t registered. It has no plates, and it’s illegally parked. What do you have to say for yourself?”
I grinned. “That it’s a system vehicle and therefore outside the government laws. Also, it can fly. So there’s literally nothing you can do to it. It can even drive itself! So, I won’t be paying a ticket. Thanks. I won’t be showing up to court. I won’t be going to jail. I’m an independent citizen. I’m a system citizen. The government no longer has a hold on me. Is there anything else, officer?”
He stared at me. Finished writing the ticket and pushed it into my chest. I took it and ripped it into pieces. All while smiling at his face. He was furious. Then I waved at him. Climbed into Sky Trail. And told Raven to drive me back to the guild.