Chapter 39: Preparation

Abyss, once more. Tobias woke up in this Abyss, and as usual, he saw Clara come into existence behind him. She was still asleep – that is to say, her consciousness is carefully placed within this place, and now, she would most likely wake up soon.

...

But how confusing was it?

Tobias really didn’t know if this Abyss was a place; if it was a realm which existed or not. Because some things were too delirious and surreal to ever take place within reality. But at the same time, some things were simply too grounded in reality to ever be placed within his consciousness.

Bastille ranted about a concept when Tobias told him about the specific functions and limitations of the Abyss.

He called it similar to Schrodinger’s Cat – or something. From what he understood, it basically meant that until the cat inside the box was observed and confirmed, then the cat was neither dead nor alive... or something like that.

This Abyss was similar to that theory; in which it acted both like a dream, yet a real world at the same time.

... And how exactly did he remember that concept – much less that strange, foreign name? Why a cat? Why was it neither dead, nor alive? Was it both dead, and alive somehow?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, because his head started to hurt from thinking too hard. How did thinking about the nature of the Abyss lead to an internal discussion about a strange man’s name, and his strange cat that was neither dead nor alive? Tobias would never know.

“You look like you’re thinking hard.” Clara said from beside him, making him jolt slightly from her voice. She let out an amused grin from his surprised reaction.

Tobias let out a sigh to relax himself. “You’re already awake?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, then hummed to herself. “It was embarrassing to wake up when you were staring right at me, you know? I almost thought that I did something wrong at some point – but then your eyes were just blank.”

“... And that’s how you realized I was thinking to myself?”

She somehow grinned even harder. “It’s obvious when you’re thinking really hard to yourself. You look like you don’t pay attention at all unless someone snaps you back.”

“Am I really that easy to read?” Tobias asked.

“Not really easy to read, you see. You’re more like...” Clara hummed, then tilted her head to think to herself. There was a few moments of silence, where he only stared at her expectantly, while she made the gears in her head turn around. Then finally, her face lightened. “It’s kinda easy to know that you will do something, but it’s really hard to know what you’re going to do, you get me?”

He only let out a sigh at her answer. “That sounds just as bad.” Especially when it came to combat, really. That sounded like it was easy to predict that he would bring out a trick or two to even the odds...

“Don’t worry about it, Toby.” She said, patting his back. He idly turned to her when she called him by nickname, and tilted his head. She let out a frown. “Is it not okay to call you like that?”

“You hung out way too much with my sister.” He commented flatly. She only giggled in response, which made his eyebrows furrow in turn. “I really hope she didn’t tell you anything embarrassing about me.”

“That’s a secret between girls~” She replied mysteriously, with an amused smile gracing her face.

“That only makes me worry more. You sound like you’re practically best friends with Catherine already.” He said, and once again, she only let out an amused grin as her answer. He let out another sigh. “Fine, you can call me that if you’d like. I wouldn’t mind.”

Her grin turned into a wider, more radiant smile. “Really? Thank you, Toby!”

“Alright, alright. While you do sound like my younger siblings –” Those words were only met by a pout from Clara. “– I kind of need you to do something for me, if you don’t mind.”

She sighed. “You can always just ask me normally, you know?”

“Alright, here it goes. Please act as my Anchor in this World to make me grow stronger.”

“... That’s not...” She trailed off when she saw Tobias’ eyes – who was telling her to play along. She only sighed. “Fine, fine. I am gracious and merciful, even if this fool in front of me is starting to act like that damn stupid Sorcerer who can’t keep his mouth shut, so I will grant your request, my dear, brave Champion.”

“...” Tobias blinked, and stared at her.

“...” Clara only blinked, then her eyes glazed over. And then she reddened with embarrassment when she realized just how seriously she took her role.

“Did anyone ever tell how great you are at acting like a goddess?” He told her, which she only met with a glare. “Oh, you want me to keep playing? Alright. Thank you, most benevolent, adorable Goddess. I will receive this blessing from you and protect you always.”

“S-shut up...” She weakly stammered back, without the usual glare that was associated with such words. Instead, her gaze was cast everywhere around him, except for his eyes or face specifically. “C-close your eyes...”

He obliged. He knew what came next. There was supposed to be light, which was supposed to envelop her hand, before she hovered her hand over his chest – never mind.

She did not just hover her hand over his chest, as he had expected. Instead, she went for a jab which was unexpected, so he let out a small noise of surprise. But it was only surprising; not painful. She didn’t really intend to hurt him, after all.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the ever familiar panels of light once more.

And just like that, he remembered what Jacques had told him; ‘The System is not what you think it is’...

That guy doesn’t clarify what he says. All he does is drop some words on Tobias, expect him to believe his words without any questions, and when Tobias asked for context, he only threatened him if he tried to ask any further.

But somehow, within the Abyss... He didn’t feel any fear, nor any hate towards that guy. He only felt like he was looking at it from a third person perspective – as if he was only watching another vaguely familiar person’s problems, and how he didn’t have any part in it.

... Whatever.

It didn’t matter right now. The System might not be what Tobias thought it was, but he knew that it was really useful to him and his quest –

– Even if said System was the reason why Marcus died to begin with. But no matter. Death only gave him his quest for a reason, and his System for a reason, did they not?

Clara only expectantly stared at him, patiently awaiting his commands so she could navigate the System for him.

Tobias

Race: Human

Class: Lone Soldier

Title: N/A

[Status] (!)

[Skills] (!)

[Conditions]

An update?

“Clara, please click on the symbol next to the Status for me.”

“Got it.”

[!] - Natural Stat Progression!

Check inside for more descriptions!

STATUS PAGE

Health: 900/900 (+45/hour if resting)

Mana: 300/300 (+15/hour if resting)

Vitality: 30

Endurance: 32

Strength: 31

Dexterity: 31

Intelligence: 16 (+5!)

Wisdom: 16 (+4!)

Magic: 10

Willpower: 25 (+4!)

Level: 24

Stocked Experience: 19,804

Level Up Cost: 1076

Interesting. Clara did say that Stats could be increased the normal way – such as exercising to increase one’s physical attributes. Bastille taught him a bunch of knowledge about ‘science’ as he called it, and while most of them were not intelligible to him, he did understand a bit of them...

Bastille came from another world, didn’t he? Where magic and monsters didn’t exist. So they must have ruled the world using numbers and words grounded in limitations, then?

... But really. That sounded like a world that was too alien and bizarre.

“Can you please tap those numbers? Right next to those Magical Attributes.”

“Hmm? Sure, sure.”

[+5 to Intelligence]

You have recently made surprising feats of logic.

Intelligence is not only based on numbers and memorization;

Even connecting two unrelated knowledge together to form a theory is intelligence.

Then again, that Sorcerer shoved his scientific knowledge down your brain.

Are you feeling smart, yet?

Tobias frowned at the words. It made him feel like it was making fun of him, even if slightly... But that being said, it was pretty amazing, nonetheless. “So that’s really the reason why my Intelligence increased, even by a bit... But I thought that Intelligence didn’t really mean... well, how smart a person is?”

“No, but you do feel like you can think clearer nowadays, right? I mean, you’ve been thinking a lot to yourself recently, right?”

“Yeah... I guess that makes sense.”

He lied. It really didn’t. Increasing Intelligence didn’t mean that a person becomes more Intelligent, but apparently, being more Intelligent to begin with does increase one’s Intelligence.

How the hell did that even make sense?

...

“Please click the next one for me.”

“Sure, sure.”

[+4 to Wisdom]

Wisdom is not just about being wise.

It also governs the mental capacity to be sapient;

that is, to observe your surroundings with detail.

You have recently uncovered revelations about your friends through observation.

But unfortunately, you don’t quite realize that your Keeper –

“A-alright! T-there’s nothing there!” Clara screeched, immediately moving her hands and removing the panel of light in front of them, reverting it back to the previous Status Page.

“What?” Tobias asked, feeling his right ear tingle from the sudden high-pitch that his companion emitted. She was right next to his ear, too. “But I haven’t even finished reading it yet.”

“It’s fine! I-it was just trying to insult y-y-you again...” So she said. But why was she stammering, and more importantly...

“Why are you blushing?”

She only froze, and slowly turned towards him. Then, she gave him an innocent, yet flushed expression. “... I-I’m not quite s-sure what you m-mean...”

Tobias stared at her. She held his gaze – but she seemed to flush even harder. When he was about to open his mouth to speak again, a memory hit him.

‘I have respected your history and privacy, until you have decided to feel comfortable enough to share it with me.’

... Jacques really was annoying. Even in this Abyss, he was suddenly remembering the things he said.

“Alright, I understand.” Tobias said, with a sigh that was far too heavy. He only hoped that Clara wouldn’t be able to notice it and begin to ask why. Because she was perceptive like that, after all.

Thankfully for him, she didn’t notice. She only let out an incredibly relieved sigh of her own, and then seemed to wipe away the sweat that had been gathering on her forehead.

... Just how exactly did a person sweat in this cold, yet comfortable Abyss, anyways?

Then she looked at him, with a questioning expression if she should tap the last symbol on the panel of light. He gave a nod of confirmation back.

[+4 to Willpower]

Willpower is the measure of one’s mental resistance.

It suppresses things like fear, doubt, or even trauma.

You have recently been exposed to things that should have shaken your mind;

should have made you doubt about the things you came to believe in.

But you triumphed over those feelings, and feel determined to know the answers.

“... This is talking about that Dungeon, wasn’t it?”

“... Yeah...”

And he wouldn’t dare tell her about how Jacques himself shook Tobias’ beliefs about that guy. Seriously... He really seemed to know things that Tobias would come to appreciate, but he only held his silence... But not without flaunting the fact that he knew something about it.

Once again, that guy was really annoying.

He shook his head again to clear those thoughts away.

He looked at his Status Page, before his fingers moved to allocate his new Stat Points. That Dungeon gave him much more Experience than he had expected, especially with how... easy it was, for lack of better word.

Once again, there was no fight that happened. Only the death of a miserable, pitiable creature.

STATUS PAGE

|Health: (900/900) > 960/960 (+48/hour if resting)

Mana: 300/300 (+15/hour if resting)

Vitality: (30) > 32 (+2)

Endurance: (32) > 35 (+3)

Strength: (31) > 34 (+3)

Dexterity: (31) > 34 (+3)

Intelligence: 16

Wisdom: 16

Magic: 10

Willpower: (25) > 29 (+4)

Level: (24) > 39

Stocked Experience: 492

Level Up Cost: 1588

“Hah... You really aren’t interested when it comes to increasing your Magical Attributes aside from Willpower, aren’t you?”

“Why should I? I don’t even know how to use Magic.”

“Don’t you want to remember more complicated things easier? Or to be more observant?”

“I feel like those are traits I’ll get naturally. On the other hand, even if I try to push my body beyond my newfound limits, no breakthrough is being made.”

“... You’re definitely hanging out a lot with that Sorcerer nowadays.”

“... How can you tell?”

“You’re using these big, complicated words now.”

Tobias shrugged. “Fair point.”

“Now then... Because I am your Keeper, and I am a really kind, and generous, and responsible Keeper, do you confirm these changes?”

That was a lot of positive adjectives to herself. But he didn’t dare call her out on that.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”

“No problem... Why are you glaring at the symbol next to your Skill tab? Are you angry at it?”

“No... I’m not. It would be amazing if you could tap that for me, though.”

[!] - Natural Skill Progression!

Check inside for more descriptions!

“Why do I feel like the author just copypasted that description, while just slightly editing it...?”

“What are you talking about, Clara? The author manually typed that by hand again...”

“...”

“...”

“What were we talking about again?”

“I have no idea.”

SKILLS PAGE

[Spear Mastery (Adept)]

[Sword Mastery (Veteran)] (+LVL)

[Dagger Mastery (Apprentice)] (+LVL)

[Unarmed Combat (Adept)] (+LVL)

[Tracking Expertise (Instinct)]

[Thrown Weapon Expertise (Apprentice)]

[Throwing Knife Expertise (Grand Master)]

[Wilderness Survival Expertise]

[+LVL] – Skill Level Up!

“Hmm...”

“You really had to go fist fight someone while you were still recovering, didn’t you?”

“Wait, you still remember that?”

“Of course I do.”

“I see...”

[Sword Mastery (Veteran)] – Level 5 (+3) – Weapon Skill

Unlocks Advanced Sword-derived Skills

Your Skill with Swords is approaching excellent.

Increases Damage with Swords by 55% (+5.5%) [+3% / 0.3%]

Increases Efficiency with Swords by 55% (+5.5%) [+3% / 0.3%]

[Dagger Mastery (Apprentice) – Level 4 (+13) – Weapon Skill

Unlocks Intermediate Dagger-derived Skills.

Your Skill with Daggers is adequate.

Increases Damage with Daggers by 24% (+2.4%) [+14% / +1.4%]

Increases Efficiency with Daggers by 24% (+2.4%) [+14% / 1.4%]

[Unarmed Combat (Adept)] – Level 2 (+1) – Martial Skill

Unlocks Intermediate Grapples and Techniques.

Your Skill in Unarmed Fighting is more than respectable.

Passively Increases Strength, Dexterity, Endurance by 4.2% (+0.42%) [+0.2% / 0.02%]

These Bonuses are increased by 420% (+42%) [+20% / 2%] when Unarmed.

“... My head hurts from reading all of that...” Tobias said, as he looked away from the overdecorated panels of light.

Overdecorated with numbers and mathematical-related symbols, that is.

“... That’s a lot of numbers and percentage symbols...” Clara said, her left eye very subtly twitching repeatedly.

“Even you, huh?” He muttered, before turning to glare at the panel of light.

Yeah... who exactly designed this System? Why were they too fond with numbers and percentages? Can’t they just say something like, ‘this skill makes the user good at using swords by, like, a lot/Lot/LOT’ or something?

Then again, numbers were precise...

“Because that reminds me of that Sorcerer’s mathematics lessons...” She replied, and grimaced, as if remembering a bad memory.

On second thought, mathematics was a bad memory, after all.

“Yeah... that’s pretty bad...” He agreed, nodding. Now that his head didn’t hurt trying to read it, he finally figured out what each number was supposed to mean. “Each Level Up Bonus with Each Skill is so minimal, though...”

“Well, to be fair, they do look like they’re pretty powerful. Like, uhm, look at your Unarmed Combat skill. It increases your Physical Attributes by a bit, even if you’re using weapons. Let’s see... 4.2% times 420%... that’s basically 17-point... something percent increase when you’re unarmed, right?”

Tobias blinked, and stared at her. She actually knew how to multiply decimals and percentages together. “... I’m amazed.”

At his words, she only turned and faced him. “What, why?”

“You can actually do mathematics, after all. I used to remember when you elbowed Bastille whenever he mentioned more than three numbers at a time.”

“O-oh... Well... I wanted to be more useful to you like that, after all...” She timidly replied, as she looked away and slowly poked her pointing fingers together.

... Why was that gesture adorable, though?

Tobias shook his head to get rid of the thought. “Don’t worry, you’ve always been useful to me. Remember that first Dungeon we did back then?”

“The one with the big Stone Knight where it turned out to be some big, scarecrow-thin black monster with the countless teeth inside its mouth?” She asked, almost as if she remembered such a monster with perfect clarity.

Then again... She was about to be eaten by it. That must have been really scary for her at the time.

On hindsight... It was amazing how they all almost died on that Tier 2 Dungeon. That Dungeon was infinitely harder than their most recent Tier 3 Dungeon.

He shook his head once more, to get rid of the sidetracking thoughts and focused himself.

“That’s a really accurate description. But yeah, that one. If you didn’t shoot an arrow in time, I would have been turned into paste at worst. That or I’ll get slammed by its hammer with so much force, it would make me crash on one of the trees or even the courtyard walls.”

“I do remember shooting an arrow between the openings in its helmet...” Clara admitted, then frowned. “But I think that was just a lucky shot.”

“It still came from you, so that’s something.” Tobias said, nodding to her. “And besides, if it was a lucky shot and it saved me, then it was an extraordinarily lucky shot then, don’t you think?”

“Wait, are you supposed to be complimenting me or not?” She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“That’s...” He began, then he stopped. Then he looked at her, and patted her head. She only stared at him blankly. “Don’t worry about it. What I’m saying is, even if you aren’t my Keeper right now, you’re still plenty useful to me.”

When he said those words, she slowly looked up at his hand, which rested on her head. Then she slowly looked back at him, and the words he said seemed to have finally reached her head.

Then her face at that moment reminded Tobias of a tomato.

“W-well...” Her voice was low, and soft to the point that even in this nigh-complete silence, he still had to strain his ears to hear what she had to say. “I-if that’s what you think... Then thank you.”

And with those words, she slowly opened her arms towards him, while her face was still as red as humanly possible.

Ah. She wanted a hug, was it? So he obliged, leaning forwards and wrapping her with his arms. In turn, she only hugged him back tighter, and after a short while, let go of him.

“G-good night then, Tobias...” She whispered, slowly turning away from him, and carefully laid down on the Abyss ground.

“Good night, Clara.” He also turned away, and let himself drop to the ground. The ground was weird, after all. It was soft, and barely even a solid – it was like it wasn’t even there, but also there at the same time. But that weird softness only made it comfortable, even if it was cold.

And as he rested in the Abyss, he could only feel a hand gingerly hold his. And like that, he found her holding his hand, while her face was turned away from him.

He said nothing, and only held her hand back.

Clara was a nice girl like that, after all. She only deserved this much company in this endless, lightless Abyss.