Chapter 17 - System - Part 1

Kuro's Village - Kuro's House - Night

Kuritn waits for the door to fully close before pulling out a small wooden pipe and lighting it, "Kuro doesn't like me smoking. Tough shit." he comments without looking up. The two men sit there in silence for a few moments as the elderly wolfen takes a few puffs before passing Simon the pipe which he accepts with a shrug. A sly grin stretches across his face as several more rings appear in the air. "Heh, clearly that wasn't your first time."

Simon shakes his head before passing the pipe back to Kuritns waiting hand, "In a sense it was, where I'm from the leaves have more of a salty, bitter taste, while that was more of a sweet and sour mix."

Kuritn nods with a smile, "So you liked it then, eh?"

"I could get used to it. Darlin wouldn't be a fan of it though."

"Bah, women" he replies with a dismissive wave and a grin before straightening up and taking on a more serious tone, "So. As I've said before, Kuro isn't one to pry but I am. Normally I would ask if you were god-touched, touched by the divine if you will. Considering how little you know that's unlikely but I'll ask anyway, have you ever encountered one of the divines before? A being of great power that existed far outside our plane of existence?"

Simon's expression shifts as he remembers them, "There was nothing divine about those creatures." he replies with a hiss.

Kuritn nods before taking another puff from his pipe, "Ok, I'll take that as a no then." he scratches the back of his neck before continuing, "So, you're not god-touched but have incredible power, you're not a human or a vampire and clearly not a beastkin. You have no access to the world system or even knowledge that it exists and you lack basic knowledge of the world and its history. How the fuck did you even get here? I've heard stories of heroes arriving from other worlds in ages past but all of them were god-touched. Divines, most of them have their own fucking temples." the wolfen lets out a loud sigh as he finishes before looking back up at the man in question who simply shrugs.

"No idea. One moment I was on the battlefield charging into enemy lines with the sky on fire behind me and the next I'm buried buck naked three meters deep in a wooden box."

A sudden coughing fit seizes Kurtin, likely from taking too sharp of a hit. It takes the old wolfen a moment to stop coughing before he could speak again, "T-They buried ye alive? W-Wait, was that why you were covered in mud when you appeared in the village? You dug yourself out of your own grave?" Simon merely shrugs again and takes the pipe from Kurtin, taking his own hit while waiting for the other man to continue. "You crazy bastard! And what the hell do you mean by the sky was on fire? Did a bloody mage cast a spell or something?"

Simon shakes his head while passing the pipe back, "No. We didn't have mages or spells just crazy scholars and really big weapons. Would have been nice to have some of those healers, though. We might have stood a chance than, well, at least for a little while anyway."

"What happened?", Kurtin says while leaning forward.

"I really don't know myself. I was on the front line when it happened. We were protecting the Arc, some sort of device that was supposed to save humanity from them. Lot of good that did. The damned thing exploded and set the sky on fire."

Kuritn shakes his head silently before looking down at his pipe and putting it out with a shiver, "I didn't even know such a thing was possible."

"Neither did I. Maybe it wasn't. Who knows. Anyway, enough about where I'm from. What the hell is this system you keep talking about?"

A small pair of glasses and a worn notebook appear out of thin air in the old wolfen's hands and with a ruffle of a page he begins, "I'll start from the beginning with the version that all children are given once the world system presents itself to them. While the exact age this happens varies from person to person, it's usually relatively close between members of the same races. A wolfen for example typically gains access to the system around age 5, humans at 8, trolls at 3, and most other beastkin somewhere in-between 4 and 12. As for the elves, who knows, some say they have system access from the moment they're born while others say they don't get it until age 40. No one really knows as the elves aren't keen on sharing that information, or really any information, with other races. Bunch of tight-lipped knife-eared bastards."

A soft cough from Simon puts the man back on track.

"Right, As I was saying, the world system normally presents itself to the being in question, wait, I kinda skipped over this part. Every living thing on Elia, that's our world's name by the way, with a soul gains access to the world system, even the odd plant now and again." He pauses for a moment as Simon tilts his head, "Trust me, you'll know one when you see it. Don't fuck with the plants. If you see one with a class, comment on how beautiful it looks and back away slowly. Trust me. Still have nightmares about Darius getting digested from the inside out. Not a pleasant sight or smell for that matter. Never looked at a salad the same way again after that job." he finishes with a shiver.

"Alright, so basically everything on Elia has access to the system including some plants, which I should be wary of." Simon watches as Kuritns ears flap up and down rapidly with his head. "And this system makes itself known to the user prior to unlocking?"

The old wolfen takes a moment to rearrange his glasses, "Aye. That's the gist of it. Now, onto the details. Everyone is given a basic class upon their awakening as the temple calls it. These classes can vary from person to person as does most things but the most common ones are as follows, Child of Lunarius for us wolfen, Child of the Wind for the avians, Child of the Plains for humans, and Child of the Forests for the elves, don't ask I don't know how we know that we just do. The dwarves are a bit tricky though. Apparently Child of the Earth was the most common but Child of the Mountains and Child of Fire are becoming more and more common these days. Some scholars believe that what class someone gets is relative to where they grew up. I'm inclined to believe them since I got Child of the Mountains. I grew up in a cave with several other children who managed to escape the third beastmen revolt. Most of us got of the Mountains, at least those of us who spent most of our time inside the cave. Oi, you still following?"

Kuritn looks over at Simon who merely nods his head and waves for him to continue, "Anyway, The way the world system works is, anything you do, and I mean anything, will reward you with something called essence but most adventures and common folk call it experience as that makes the most sense to us."

Simon suddenly finds himself thinking of Artoria again, giggling softly as she engages in one of her favorite pastimes in between deployments, "Do you unlock these skills by performing certain actions and level them up by gaining experience with said skill?"

Kuritn’s eyes go wide as he snaps his book closed, "So you do know if it then!" he says with a grin.

"Not really, but I get the gist of it. What are these classes?"

"Right, Classes are sort of specialization in a sense that one can pick when they level up should they meet the requirements. Now, not every level up will reward a person with a new class upgrade or slot. As far as I'm aware levels 128 and 512 unlock an additional class slot which means you can select a second and third class in addition to your first one. I'm not positive about the third class though as I'm only 135. Which is still way above the level 8 villagers."

"Wait, Why are the villagers level 8?"

Kurtin offers a sad smile, "Aye. Figured you'd mention that. Beastkin haven't been allowed to class up since the revolts. While we still can, anyone that does and gets caught is killed immediately, often times including their family too. Even heard of a village being razed once for a kid classing up after receiving a dare from a nobles son." Simon shakes his head in disgust while Kuritn nods.

"It gets worse too, you see. Each time someone gains a level in a class they're rewarded with a set amount of stat points. These points can be spent in one of nine different stats. Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Versatility, Speed, Intellect, Wisdom, Essense Power / Magic Power, and Essence Control / Magic control. Essence power and Magic power are more or less the same. What version a person has depends entirely on what their first class is. They do what you'd expect them to do. They make your skills more powerful and more efficient, respectfully. Control, well, helps you better control the skill in the first place. Strength and Dexterity do exactly what you'd expect them to do. They make you stronger and more agile."

"Similarly, Speed makes you faster while Versatility makes you tougher and helps your body adapt to more extreme changes, like rapid changes in temperature, or a higher Speed stat. Without Versatility, you run the risk of not being able to perceive your own movements if you increase your speed too much or more commonly breaking everything because you can't control your newfound strength. Intellect and Wisdom are related to Essence/Magic power and control. Intellect increases how much essence/mana your body is able to hold while also expanding your mind in a sense. Having a higher Intellect stat will allow you to process information faster. I've heard stories of former arch-mages committing suicide because of how slow the world around them felt."

Kurin shakes his head. "Should have put more points into Versatility. Anyway, Wisdom increases your natural essence/mana regeneration while also improving your memory. The higher your Wisdom stat, the more easily you can recall your own memories and the more memories you can make. Again, Wisdom is another double-edged sword. Some people lose themselves within their own minds by constantly replaying 'the good old days' while others claw their own eyes out because they can't move past something traumatic that happened in the past. Versatility can't fix that sadly." he ends with a sigh.

Kuritn reopens his small book, "Now, here's where things get worse. Vitality. Vitality is different. It does a little bit of everything. It can make you faster and stronger, smarter and more agile, and generally increases your overall physical health." Kuritn eyes Simon again solemnly, "It also increases your lifespan. Sometimes far beyond what would typically be normal."

The old wolfen pauses for a moment to let the information sink in, "Now, for example, Kuro is 45, and by the gods does he look it. However, I'm 58. 13 years older than him and I still look like I'm in my late 30's. By my estimation, I've probably got another 10 years left in me before I start deteriorating rapidly, so 15 max provided I don't get myself killed or somehow manage to increase my Vitality." Kurtin shakes his head silently for a moment and takes a drag from his pipe.

How di- Wait how is the pipe even still lit?

Kuritn offers a toothy smile after seeing Simon's confused reaction, "Fuck you that's how. Back to Vitality. Kuro will probably live to 55, likely on sheer determination alone assuming the village doesn't get wiped out. That's actually pretty good, no, REALLY good for a wolfen. Our typical lifespan is around 45 to 50 years without taking into account Vitality. As with the other stats, Vitality is another double-edged sword. It will increase your lifespan and keep you in fighting shape while doing it. However, once you've reached its limit, that's it. You won't die instantly, at least not at first. One day you'll wake up and find yourself just a little bit slower or just a little bit weaker. Maybe you'll find it just a bit harder to control a skill that you could use effortlessly the night before. We call this The Call since it's pretty much White Dove's way of calling us home so to speak. The call starts off slow at first but as time goes on the degradation gets faster and faster as White Dove's patience wanes. Should you somehow survive long enough though, The call will stop."

Kurtin shivers slightly, "That's when Black Crow takes over. Pretty self explanatory what happens after that."

White Dove? Black Crow? Simon's thoughts flash back to the bandit camp and the two birds he saw when time seemed to stand still. Death?

"Kuritn. White Dove and Black Crow, are those names literal or jus-"

"Literal. White Dove is well, a White Dove. She symbolizes balance in all things and the passage of time. She comes to those who have reached the end of their life and carries the willing home. She is kind but vindictive against all those who would delay her. She is patient, thus the call, but her patience has a limit. Once it's reached Black Crow comes and takes you away by force. Where her sister is kind, Black Crow is hateful. Instead of offering a gentle guiding hand to a willing soul, she brings a horrific end, ripping them out piece by piece, layer by layer, until all that remains is the naked and raw core of their soul."

Simon strokes his beard thoughtfully, "If someone were to increase their Vitality during the call, would stop or even reverse?"

"No. If anything it'll speed up rapidly or flat-out summon Black Crow since you’re actively denying White Dove. No. Once the call starts, that's it, the clock is ticking and it's not going to stop. That's why you don't see many elders running around frantically trying to level up once the call starts." Kuritn poses for a moment and flips through his worn book, "Ah, here it is. There are two exceptions to this. One more pleasant than the other. The first one is from an old bard's tale. It tells the story of an old knight who continued training even after the call began."

"Even though his body decayed around him, he still pressed on, determined to serve his kingdom one last time. Eventually, the neighboring kingdom attacked the city he was stationed in. By this point, he had already started to see White Dove impatiently staring at him from time to time. That's the last stage by the way before Black Crow comes. Sensing his last chance to serve his kingdom, the knight made one final deal with White Dove. She would allow him to fight again for his people one last time and upon the battle's end, he would come willingly without resistance. Remarkably, White Dove accepted this deal and the knight regained his former power. The battle ended with him standing atop a mountain of corpses with his surviving countrymen cheering him on as his body suddenly turned to ash. White Dove had held up her end of the bargain and would not be denied."