John took a minute to react to the alarm going off before a moment of panic set in. He couldn’t move his right arm! Then John looked over and saw Gwen fast asleep, with a content smile on her face that he couldn’t help but match. That’s right, Gwen had fallen asleep next to him after talking for a while after finishing the movies. It wasn’t that either of them had felt unusually tired, just that the level of comfort and relaxation they had felt had persuaded them to fall asleep. John saw that the alarm was for the hour before losing his remaining Research Points from not investing it, so he unlocked Mana To Electrical Power Conversion. Following that, John placed the remaining point into Interdimensional Internet Connection and decided to go back to sleep; he could check the Research results and the remaining notifications later. For now, he would stay in the moment and enjoy Gwen’s companionship.

Jake could barely contain his laughter as Lenny burst out of his door, wielding a butterfly net like a sword, before posing like Finn from the Adventure Time opening credits. The orange mask was barely visible against Lenny’s fur, though Jake didn’t have the heart to point this out to Lenny. Lenny seemed pretty excited to be trusted with a vital duty again and appeared to be trying to dress up in his best clothes for it. Before Lenny had burst into the room, Jake had been pacing through the room, looking at areas where he could improve the aesthetic. John had done a decent job, but his designs had always been more skewed towards the practical end of things. It was why in high school, they had discussed opening a design firm together, with John handling the more practical aspects, and Jake managing graphic design, interior design, and architecture. Those plans had fallen by the wayside after their parents’ death and Jake descent into addiction. Jake was glad that Gwen also had a passing interest in design so he could bounce some ideas off of her and give them a chance to do some bonding outside of the context of her relationship with John. John had also told him that he would be able to use electric lighting and other electrical equipment soon, which would help provide guided lighting and other modern features to the area.

Jake called Lenny over to show Lenny how to use the butterfly net. With the swing and movements Lenny was making, he was more likely to tangle himself in the netting or crush a bug over being able to capture. Lenny looked slightly disappointed by the more gentle movements but perked up a bit when Jake explained that Lenny would be able to catch live bugs, which could be pretty cool to look at and keep as temporary pets. Maybe when the electrical appliances were available, John could set up the Dungeon’s Entertainment Room, and Jake could play some Animal Crossing with Lenny in their downtime. It would probably be good to show him some media without frenetic energy to it. As it was, it was pretty amusing to watch Lenny go from his full out waddle-sprint into a slow-paced creep, pretending to sneak up on a bug before swing his net at a designated spot. After a couple of repetitions, Lenny looked over at Jake for some affirmation that he was doing the right thing, and Lenny’s expression brightened significantly when Jake gave him a thumbs up before sprinting up the ramp on all fours with the net in his mouth. Jake, for his part, enjoyed acting the part of the guiding older brother, looking to his experience as John’s younger brother for inspiration.

George had had a fascinating, frustrating, and ultimately gratifying past few days. He had got a couple of new skills from his efforts and gained a few abilities from the Merchant class, and he was close to unlocking a couple of Professions, and even found the requirements for a Class. On the other hand, George hadn’t acquired any skills directly related to combat and wasn’t sure what he would have to do to unlock the Class for which George had found one of the requirements. Still, those were ultimately minor complaints, as what George had acquired so far had already improved his life in a couple of ways, and he had gained things he had no idea he would. Some highlights had included: his efforts at exercise improving his CON to 10, and from that George already saw benefits to his general health and energy levels from it; unlocking a non Class or Profession Ability all on his own; and bringing his Travelling skill to 25, gaining the Apprentice Bonus. George took a moment to reflect and brought up his Stat sheet since he hadn’t gone over it in detail for a couple of days.

Name: Georges “George” LaFleur

Race: Human

Level: Total 16, Class 0, Profession 6, Character 10

Title: None

Stats: 10 STR, 10 DEX, 10 CON, 10 INT, 11 WIS, 9 CHR

Health: 100

Mana: 50

Stamina: 50

Classes: ???

Professions: Teamster 4, Merchant 2

Skills: Negotiation 12, Information Gathering 12, Travelling 25, Diplomacy 0, Calculation 10, Performance 5

Abilities: Motive Sense, Solid Path, Strength Boost, System Aided Navigation, Attract Customers, Item Of Interest Highlight, Meditation

Titles: N/A

Achievements: N/A

George was disappointed to see that he had gained no Diplomacy levels, though the Skill’s description had sounded like it would be hard for him to work on in his day-to-day life. He only had it unlocked because it was part of the Merchant professions skills used in calculating its level, and it seemed until he had at least one level in it, he wouldn’t be able to earn experience for it with his related skill. On the other hand, George was pleasantly surprised to see that Calculation had levelled to a Novice level. He decided to go over the descriptions of the new Skills and Abilities he had picked up and unlocked, as seeing his other Skills and Abilities in effect had shown him that their descriptions didn’t outline all of their uses. One of the biggest shocks had been the Motive Sense Ability, as George had assumed it was mostly to see if someone was going to try and rip you off. However, as George had used that Ability, he had also found that he could also sense other motivations like a person’s hunger causing them to act in specific ways.

Diplomacy

Description: The ability to determine and trade items and ideas of value between larger organizations.

Parent Skill: Negotiation

Techniques: ???

Related Skills: Information Gathering

Calculation

Description: The ability to calculate different equations and associations.

Parent Skill: N/A

Techniques: Algebra - Novice, Geometry - Initiate, Physics - Novice, Deduction - Initiate, Logic - Initiate, ???

Subskills: N/A

Related Skills: ???

Novice Bonus: Calculation speed increased by 5%

Performance

Description: The gaining of people’s attention and conveying emotions through actions.

Parent Skill: N/A

Techniques: Acting - Initiate, Music - Initiate, Speech - Initiate, ???

Subskills: ???

Related Skills: ???

Meditation

Description: Enter a meditative state to recover resources faster and consolidate experience gains. Those with the Ability will find it easier to achieve meditative states in the future.

Prerequisites: Practice Meditation enough to enter a meditative state.

Ability Type: Active (Passive Minor)

Item Of Interest Highlight

Description: Highlight individual items of interest, using a low amount of stamina or mana. Focusing on an individual object will allow the user to expend additional resources to gather more information. Objects highlighted are based on the individual's knowledge, skills, and abilities. What resources are needed to highlight them are based on the type of the item. Higher levels give faster acquisition of information and lower resource costs.

Prerequisites: Merchant Profession Ability

Ability Type: Active

George had earned the Mediation ability by his nightly mediation before going to bed. Gaining this Ability had been quite the boon, as it had let him know that there were Abilities he could earn outside of Class and Profession Abilities. George had been able to use it to recover more energy and gain a bit of bonus experience for the skills he had used throughout the day. It had also been challenging for George to finalize his selection of Item Of Interest Highlight for the other Merchant Ability after picking up Customer Attraction. Both System Aided Appraisal and Goods Movement had had descriptions that had also made them tempting to pick up. However, George had felt that Item Of Interest Highlight would have more general uses and be more useful in his day to day life. He also wasn’t sure what to pick between Coin Handling and Carrying Capacity if he reached level 5 as a Merchant, as both sounded like they would be useful in their own ways.

System Aided Appraisal

Description: The system boosts the users’ ability to appraise an item. By using resources, the user boosts their ability to appraise by 10%. Appraising various aspects of the item can be increased by using different resources. Higher levels raise the boost amount and reduce the resource cost.

Prerequisites: Merchant Profession Ability

Ability Type: Active

Goods Movement

Description: Use mana to move goods you own at a speed equivalent to walking. Objects must not be secured to be moved. A higher level reduces mana cost and increases movement speed.

Prerequisites: Merchant Profession Ability

Ability Type: Active

Carrying Dexterity

Description: Increases dexterity while carrying items, making it easier to balance more items to carry and making it less likely that the items will be dropped.

Prerequisites: Merchant Profession Ability

Ability Type: Passive

Money Handling

Description: Increases all capacities related to the handling and movement of money. Examples include increased dexterity while handling coins, the ability to count money quicker by visual methods, and the ability to throw coins better. Essentially, if it is related to money, you are better at it.

Prerequisites: Merchant Profession Ability

Ability Type: Passive

George could see more general utility from the Carrying Dexterity passive, which would also work great in conjunction with the Strength Boost and Carrying Capacity Abilities from the Teamster Profession. On the other hand, it seemed that Money Handling, which he noticed had changed slightly from its previous name Coin Handling, would make him better in anything related to money. The general wording of Coin Handling opened it up to many possibilities, including making better decisions about when to invest and divest in stocks or even using coins as makeshift weapons. There was also the possibility that with that passive Ability, cash could be a better throwing weapon than shuriken or throwing knives, along with possibly being more cost-effective.

Travelling

Description: Using different means to travel between one point and another

Parent Skill: N/A

Techniques: Walking+, Driving+, Human Powered+

Subskills: N/A

Related Skills: Information Gathering

Apprentice Bonus: Travel Efficiency (n+n/7)% at Base Speed, Current Efficiency 28.6%, Base Speed 1.1x

George had noticed the new effect of the Apprentice Bonus of Travelling almost as soon as he finished reading it after he had unlocked it. Not only had he begun walking at a faster pace naturally, but he had also been driving at faster speeds while not using a more massive foot than usual. The final Technique type for Travelling had unlocked when George went on a bike ride with his wife Karen, though that had been before he had levelled Travelling to 25. Similarly, the family game night of D&D had been what had unlocked both Performance and Calculation and most of their Techniques. However, the Physics portion of Calculation had come from estimating his and other drivers’ speeds and how that would affect his ability to turn and merge that comes from everyday driving. Calculation had boosted his ability to estimate times and distances, which he appreciated.

Thinking back on family game night, it had been fun seeing the kids and Frank together for the first time in a couple of weeks, as they all had been busy at different times the last couple of game nights. Frank wasn’t a blood relative, but he was the closest thing George had had to a sibling growing up in one of the smaller farming communities around Red Deer, as both of them had been outcasts. George hadn’t fit in because his interests had him labelled as a nerd by many of their peers. On the other hand, their peers had excluded Frank due to where his romantic interests lay. Even though they were five years apart, the fact that as kids they had always stood up for the other to the point of taking physical beatings to defend the other had cemented their bond with Frank as the older brother, and Greg and Stacey had grown up loving their kind Uncle Frank. Though the LaFleur’s had grown into being agnostic Catholics at best, Frank would always be family. As they would jokingly refer to his title when he was acting seriously, Father Frank had been a regular part of George’s life since returning from the Seminary. George had been slightly disappointed that no one else from his family had shown signs of gaining the System yet, but he also wanted to guide them better when they eventually got it.

That was why George was currently standing in front of what he thought was the Dungeon entrance. He had been surprised to find it unlocked today since the last couple of times George had checked the door, it had been locked. Even though the Performance Skill had been one prerequisite for the Performer Class he had the basic description for, he would still need to level it to Novice and unlock the other hidden Skill before he could equip it. George had also opened the prerequisites for another Profession, Actor, by getting the Performance Skill, though he would have to level the Skill even more than for the Performer Class. George was interested in both the benefits and Abilities of both classes, though, as both sounded like they had some great things waiting for him when he unlocked them.

Performer

Description: Base performer class, uses performances to buff allies and debuff enemies, +1 CHR, INT, WIS when equipped.

Prerequisite: Performance and ??? Unlocked

Skills: Performance, Leadership, Channeling, Magic Damage, Healing

Active Abilities: Buff Ally Stats, Debuff Enemy Stats, Mana Bolt, Mana Shield, Aggression Redirection, Rally

Passive Abilities: Radius Boost, Ally Mana Efficiency

Actor

Description: A base profession for performing as an actor. +1 CHR and WIS while equipped.

Prerequisite: Performance at Apprentice Level, Employed as Actor

Skills: Performance, Information Gathering

Active Abilities: Attract Attention, Customer Attraction, Motive Sense, Charisma Boost, Recall

Passive Abilities: Enunciation

The fact that George had yet to unlock a Class was why he was about to take his first step into the Dungeon, as he felt that it would be the best way to unlock any Skills related to combat, and therefore unlock his first Class. His efforts at sparring and shadow boxing had yet to be rewarded with a Skill. If George brought his family into the Dungeon with him in the future, he wanted to protect them better and help them get their first Classes.