As Alvin left the psychedelic grasp of dreaming, he became acutely aware of the horrendous lack of head support or comfort provided by his pillow. He opened his eyes just enough to glare at the horrendously off-white, guilty pillow. After closing his eyes and worming himself into a more comfortable position under the blankets, Alvin’s eyes snapped open as he remembered his last encounter with the abomination of a color that vaguely resembles white. Severe boredom, rude porcupines, a glowing crystal, and apparently unconsciousness.

‘Wait, wasn’t there a notification, like the announcement, before I fainted?’ Alvin had pondered the mystery for all of 3 seconds before his thinking was interrupted by several pop-ups, which were accompanied by the familiar ding, as well as the sound of confetti.

************

[Congratulations, Subject 11222914, for joining the System, and by extent, the Multiverse!]

[Subject must join a Faction to officially join the Multiverse. An explanation will be provided to the Subject prior to Recruitment ceremony]

[To view personal information, Subject must address the Status page aloud]

[Due to unconsciousness following successful uplink to the System, Subject has been Relocated to temporary sleeping quarters]

‘Ah. that explains why I’ve been put back into interior design Hell.’ Alvin laid back down on his bed, and considered what he had just learned from the System notifications. First, he would be railroaded into joining an established group, which could be a good thing. Second, he would get a chance for explanations and information. Third and finally, he had a Status page. Would it be like a video game stat menu, or something else entirely? Alvin figured there was only one way to find out.

“Status.”

Name: Alvin Stoker

Affinity: Ocean(8)

Race: Human(1)

Faction: None

Age: 23

Master: None

Cultivation

Mortal

Stats:

Strength

F-

Dexterity

F

Constitution

F-

Wisdom

F-

Intelligence

F

Charisma

F

Skills:

Alvin understood what most of the status screen meant, as it was similar to many games he had played before. The stats were the easiest. Strength was self explanatory, while the other stats were a little more nebulous. Dexterity is usually related to skill with the hands, so it probably had to do with precision and control of movements. In games, Constitution is often treated as a combination of endurance and vitality, so it is probably his physical condition.

The physical stats tend to be more tangible than the mental ones, so the mental ones will most likely have more obscure depths than the others. The easiest of the three is Charisma, which would be Alvin’s force of personality, not likeability. It is possible to be charismatic and unlikeable. Intelligence and Wisdom should generally increase his perception, ability to remember, and speed of thought.

His name, race, and age were all expected, and known before the System quantified his abilities. Faction and Master seemed to be a more nuanced approach to affiliation, and since Alvin was being forced to join a faction, it was likely he would have to choose a master as well. Cultivation was a bit of a mystery, because the only relevant topic he could think of was farming, like cultivating the crops, which didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would be labelled “Mortal.” Affinity, on the other hand, he could deduce from context and game experience. In games, affinity was either how much certain people liked you, or how good you were with a certain type of magic. Alvin was not a betting man, but if he were, he’d bet his last dollar on Affinity having something to do with magic. So, maybe, Cultivation was some form of magic too?

He spent a few more minutes brainstorming, but failed to come up with any more plausible explanations. Regardless, he was near certain Affinity was related to magic, but he was curious about what the 8 next to his Ocean Affinity meant. On a scale from 1 to 10, it would be pretty good. On the other hand, with a scale from 1 to 100, an Affinity of 8 would be really bad. Hopefully all of his questions would be answered at the Recruitment ceremony, and even more hopefully it would be soon.

The Recruitment ceremony did not start soon. By his own admission, Alvin’s sense of time was terrible, but he knew he sat on his bed thinking for a substantial amount of time befor ethe notification he was looking for appeared.

[Subject’s presence is required at Recruitment ceremony. Prepare for Relocation]

Once again, Alvin’s surroundings vanished into the darkness, and once again the darkness vanished just as swiftly, this time depositing him in a small room, with an open door covered by a red cloth. On the other side of the cloth, he could hear muted voices, lots of them, like standing outside of a stadium during a game.

“Ah, 11222914, wonderful, you’re up next. We have just enough time for a quick explanation,” a svelte voice greeted him. Turning his head, Alvin saw someone who appeared to be an elegant young woman at first glance. Wearing a sophisticated black dress that accentuated her pale skin and cold blue eyes, but didn’t clash with her yellow hair. Yellow, not blonde. After looking closer, Alvin saw that her arms were long, long enough to reach past her knees, and her hands were proportional to her arms. What was worse was when she smiled, and her face split wider than a human’s could or would, every inch of it filled with far too many teeth. And despite towering over her by nearly 6 inches, Alvin was distinctly aware that he was the small one there.She must have noticed him wince, because her smile shrank to more human proportions.

“As I am sure the System has informed you, you will have to join a Faction. There are 3 types of factions: Sects, Schools, and Clans. Schools and Sects are effectively the same thing, a group that share similar beliefs and practice similar techniques.Both tend to be led by a single powerful individual, who is assisted in the passing of knowledge by several less powerful individuals. A Clan is a form of extended family, almost all of the members share a surname, and they tend to be the most secretive with their techniques. Before I move on, do you have any questions about the Factions?”

“Just one,” Alvin replied. “Why do we have to join a Faction? Wouldn’t it be better to let humanity grow a bit in power before allowing foreign groups access to the planet?”

“If I may, I would like to ask a counter question: how many of your people do you think have any knowledge at all about Cultivation, or combat? I can even answer that question for you: almost none. How long would it take for the humans of Earth to reach the point where they weren’t just a ripe fruit to be plucked by a more powerful force? A very long time, and a large amount of resources that could have been better used elsewhere. Does that answer your question, 11222914?” She finished her small lecture with a small that was just as inhumanly big as the first, but much less friendly.

“Uh, yes, thanks, that explained a lot,” he responded, trying and failing to maintain eye contact.

“Good. Now, various factions will try to recruit you by offering you deals. These deals will vary in terms and resources provided, which is dependent on the element and tier of your Affinity. Affinities range from very broad, like water, to very specific, like raindrops. Specific Affinities are very powerful, but only in their niche. A broad Affinity is generally weaker, but more universally usable. The strength of Affinity is measured on a scale from 0 to 10, and is further divided into groupings. An affinity of 0 means no affinity whatsoever, which is very rare. 1 to 3 is considered low tier Affinity, 4 to 6 is mid tier, 7 to 9 is considered high tier, and 10 is a perfect affinity. If I may ask what your Affinity is, so I may give you insight into what kind of offers you can expect, and wha you are worth to a sect.”

“Sure, it’s not a problem, mine is…… Ocean, tier 8, I think?”

“Tier 8? That’s pretty high. Around 70 percent of humans have an Affinity from 1 to 4. Another 29 percent are between 5 and 7. Tier 8 Affinities are one in a thousand, which is 0.1 percent of the population. That means that there are about 8 million humans with an 8th tier Affinity on your planet. Tier 9 Affinities are 2 orders of magnitude less common than tier 8, which is 0.001 percent of the population, or about 80 thousand people. Tier 10 and tier 0 Affinities have about the same rarity, only appearing 1 in every 100 million, which means that there are a scant 80 people of both Affinities on this planet. As a tier 8, Factions won’t quite come to blows over you, but they will certainly try to sway you to join them, even if the element of your Affinity does not suit that Faction. Most Factions give their members a monthly stipend based on position and strength, and it will vary between Factions based on the Faction’s strength and wealth. On average, with an 8th tier Affinity, a new member would be offered a position of an inner disciple, with a monthly stipend of 25 Tiny Qi Stones.”

“..............Is that a lot?” Alvin hadn’t heard about this new currency yet, and had no concept of its value.

“It is for someone who has yet to step onto the path of Cultivation. Ah, looks like we’re out of time, you’re up. Good luck, and goodbye.” With that curt farewell, Alvin was pushed through the cloth, and into an explosion of noise and color.