From the System Guide Vol 9, Section “Qual’Fan"

The people of Qual’Fan are an interesting group. As members of the 9th wave, they joined Genesis during a period of upheaval. Rigor of the Fourth was challenging the members of the 2nd wave and actually winning, upsetting the balance that had held for centuries. The Qual’Fan took advantage of that by quickly spreading out to their Dungeon Worlds and rapidly improving their abilities, giving themselves the power to influence or control the other members of their wave. They remain the most powerful group of the 9th wave. Their goals are unknown but their thirst for power is well documented.

Looking down from my high branch in the tree, I see a humanoid figure sitting down on the dead body of the Hunter. His arm raises up and he waves me down, gesturing towards the ground in a nonthreatening way.

I stare at him for a few seconds before beginning to climb down the tree. The way I see it, he had managed to kill a Lvl 28 Hunter without making a sound. If he truly wanted me down from the tree I don’t think there was anything I could do to stop him.

With feet on the ground, I look up at this creature that may have just saved my life and my eyes widen. He stands at around 9 feet tall and has dusky grey skin. In any other planet it would be fantastic for blending in but this world of vivid purples and reds makes the difference stark. From his head rises short black hair which crashes down onto his face, which contains four blood red eyes in a diamond pattern. His hands seem to each have two thumbs and 6 fingers. On his body are clothes of purple leather, obviously fashioned from the beasts of Helldarvin.

Before I can stare at him any longer, however, his voice breaks through my shocked observations. “I asked you a question boy. Who the hell are you?”

Nervousness floods through my body and, in order to gain some semblance of control, I activate Meditation, falling into the calm and empty mindset that accompanies it. The nervousness and fear fades to the background and, after a few seconds of calm, I deactivate it and respond. “I’m Cael King.”

“Well King, how about you answer my second question. What the hell were you doing up that tree?”

I point at the creature underneath him. For the first time, the full realization that he is sitting on a dead creature hits me and I feel nausea rise up, causing me to gag slightly. “I was running from that Hunter. How did you manage to kill that thing?”

The man laughs, a deep booming sound that shakes the air around us. Each one causes me to flinch as my body reacts to the sudden and unexpected sound. “This little thing is only Lvl 28, I could kill something like this in my sleep. Why were you running away from this low level beastie?”

Lvl 28 is a low level? Suddenly my need for information about what is going on seems far more important than what I considered earlier. Information is power and in this strange world power may be the only way that I will be able to survive. I don’t answer for a few seconds as I consider my next steps. Should I trust this man? It is only when I consider this question that a dark thought arises in me in response. I don’t have any other choice.

“I don’t know where I am… One minute I was studying at a library and the next I found myself here with these strange notifications about skill knowledge and creatures that obviously want to kill me. Do you know where we are?”

The man’s face instantly changes from one of light hearted joking to serious consideration. His eyes focus in on me and, for the first time, seem to truly analyze me. I catch a few words as he mutters under his breath. “A transplant on Helldarvin of all…. Possibility of influence in the 11th… Survival chance is godawful…”

The muttering stops and his red eyes meet mine, bringing the whole weight of his formidable persona to bear. This continues for a few seconds as he stares into my eyes. If I had to hazard a guess I’d say that he is trying to search my eyes for any hint of deceit, but even then I have no idea what is going on in his mind. Does he even have a brain similar to mine? He’s obviously of a different species but still humanoid in stature.

My musings on his biology are interrupted. “Before I tell you anything I’m going to ask you a few questions. If you even consider lying to me I will kill you where you stand. Do you understand?”

That unfortunately familiar feeling of fear begins to creep back into me. Despite having heard that line in countless movies and books, I’d never heard it spoken with such calm certainty. The man, or at least I think a man, said the words in the tone I would use to say I was going for a walk. Calm, collected, and absolutely certain that the task would be completed without any difficulty. I nod my head quickly.

“What is your level and how have you allocated your attributes?”

His question confirms one of the suspicions that I’ve had. Given that the Hunter had a level it is only logical that I would also have a level. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how to check that. “I don’t know, I have no idea how to see that.”

He looks at me incredulously, mumbling under his breath. I’m pretty sure I hear the words idiot, bumbling fool, and transplant moron but I say nothing, not wanting to criticize the person that can kill me without any difficulty. “Just think the word Status and your personal page will show up in front of you. Then tell me what you see.”

Taking his advice, I think the word Status and the familiar notification noise appears again. This time it is accompanied by a page of new information.

Name: Cael King Health (Regeneration): 40/40 (14/h)

Race: Human (Earth) Mana (Regeneration): 85/85 (37/h)

Class: Unassigned Stamina (Regeneration): 45/45 (16/m)

Level: 1 Available WP: 17

Strength: 4 Intelligence: 6 Perception: 4

Dexterity: 3 Wisdom: 5 Recovery: 2

Endurance: 3 Willpower: 5 Charisma: 2

Physique: 2

I read out the attributes to the man, making a note to myself to figure out what each attribute does as soon as possible. I have my suspicions for a few of them but the only way I’m going to survive in this place is by understanding and using everything available for me. Any other thoughts I have are put aside for the moment, focusing on this man who so casually threatens murder.

“Terrible attributes … Mana focused …” The rest of the muttering devolving into a series of words I can’t hear or understand. After a few seconds of staring at this man, and mildly questioning his sanity as I do, his eyes go back to me and regain their intense focus.

“What Skills do you have? Just think or say the words Skills List and the list will show up”

Once again I follow his directions and am greeted with another screen, albeit one with far less information.

Skills:

Climbing Lvl 1

Planning Lvl 5

Meditation Lvl 11

I relay this information back to the man and he bursts out laughing, the large booming sound shaking the air around me. My knees tense and I feel my body squat slightly to try and keep my center of gravity lower to the ground. What sort of strange place have I come to where a person’s laugh has the potential to knock me off my feet?

The man finally manages to regain control of himself and he wipes away tears from his eyes, the occasional chuckle managing to escape from him. “Well damn boy you have the worst set of Skills I’ve ever heard. What Ways do you have? It’s the same process as the other two, you can figure it out.”

I stare at the man for a few seconds with a deadpan face. Not only has he threatened to kill me but now he also said I have terrible skills. Fun. Shaking away the annoyance, I find myself on the Way screen.

Ways: The Way of the Randomly Chosen (0/100), The Way of the Hopeless (0/250), The Way of the 11th Wave (0/5), The Way of the Traveler (0/???), The Way of the Beginner (0/10)

The previous condescension slowly drains away from the man’s face as he hears the Ways available, adopting a contemplative look. This suggests to me that, despite my so called ‘terrible’ attributes and Skills, the Ways available to me are not as awful. I have no idea what Ways are but his face makes me put them on the top of my short term priorities. Anything that can hold this strange man’s focus is something that I need to understand well.

I open my mouth to ask him a question but he holds up a hand to stop me. We sit motionless for a few minutes as he looks at the ground, muttering to himself about incomprehensible things. The words Primus and 9th Wave seem to be repeated a few times. Finally he looks up at me with resolve in his eyes.

“Okay boy, I’m going to break a few rules of my people with the things that I’m about to do. In return, you’re going to owe me a few favors. If you ever even think about telling others what I’ve done I will find and kill you. Do you understand?"

I nod my head quickly. Any information this man can give me will drastically improve my chances of survival.

“Good. Your planet was absorbed by Genesis. Obviously your planet was a low rank because you were sent here and given the opportunity to gain strength. Unfortunately for both you and your planet, your attributes and skills are godawful and you have zero chance of surviving.”

His calm assessment of my survival chances makes me fall to the ground, sitting down on those strange and surprisingly comfortable purple pines. I'd known that my chances were pretty grim, after all. I'd never been camping for more than a day back on Earth, I'd never killed another living being, and I'd never even learned how to start a fire. After a few moments of silence, I look up at him and ask, “Is there anything you can do to help?”

A feral grin breaks out on his face, his teeth becoming visible for the first time. Oddly enough, they are white like mine but that is where the similarity ends. Every single one of his teeth file down to a sharp point. He suddenly reminds me of the Hunter he now sits on, filled with barely contained energy and the need to fight. “Well boy I’m glad you asked. I’d be willing to teach you a few things but you have to prove to me that it’s worth my time. Do you think you can do that?”

For the first time since arriving on this world I feel the glimmer of hope in my chest. “Absolutely, what can I do to prove it to you?”

His smile stretches even larger. It reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from the stories I used to read as a child, somehow both mischievous and dangerous. He turns around and roots around in something that I can’t see before pulling out a small dagger, a small book, and what appears to be a pack of resources. He then throws them down on the ground in front of me and looks at me with his manic smile.

“Survive for 2 months and we’ll talk.”

Yelling something I can’t understand, he disappears. Well … Shit.