Feeling a slight breeze roused Owen from his nap. Opening his eyes to a vast blue sky above a sea of green, he tried taking in the strange new surroundings as best he could. He was leaning against a tree on the outskirts of a dense forest as far as the eye could see. The sounds of chirping, the cold dew on the grass, the warmth of the sun…s.
“Not a dream, then”. Owen mutters to himself. Everything just seemed too real. Slumping against the tree, red boxes began to cascade in his vision.
The messages flew by in a frenzy until they vanished all at once.
ARMS System, Owen thought to himself. Once System was thought of, a blue screen appeared in his vision. “Ah, so it’s intent-based,” Owen mused. Thinking about dismissing the screen had the desired effect. Willing it back, Owen took a good look at his Gift.
Looking through the different Stats, they all seemed self-explanatory. Strength determined how hard he could hit. Endurance limited how much he could get hit. Dexterity is how quick he is. Vigor is basically how fit he is. Intelligence boosted how well his brain functioned, while Focus gave him sharp memory and precision. “Yup, that’s some video game-y stuff right there; this is so fucking cool,” Owen exclaimed as he moved to the next Tab with a thought.
Seeing a letter from Kebechet, Owen immediately thought about reading it, causing another screen to appear. This one wasn’t in the usual blue boxes but seemed to be on a soft white, almost like an actual letter.
“Shit...okay, definitely not dreaming”. Owen stands up and begins stretching. “Well, at least my body seems to work right, it would suck if I still had my body from being dead and all.” After stretching, things still felt a bit off, but in his excitement to figure out his Gift, Owen simply brushed that feeling off. Once he read the message from Kebechet, there were still two other letters to go. Ignoring them for the time being, he moved on to his next Tab.
Holding his hand out in front of himself, Owen thought about the Short sword. White particles condensed where he thought about carrying the weapon, and the sheathed Short sword appeared. Catching its grip, Owen glanced over at his still-open Armory screen.
“So, it still shows up in my Armory.” Willing the blade away had the Item revert to its standard look. Owen willed the weapon back out. “Thank God…or is it Gods now, for the Internet?” he mused as he attached the short sword to his waist after it appeared. Drawing the blade, he couldn’t find any defects. “No chips or cracks. Looks like a new blade all for me.”. Owen begins to go through some mediocre sword swings and moves he remembered from books and TV.
“Skill Gained: Basic Swordsmanship Lvl 1”
“What the-?” Owen thought aloud, “Can I?”. As he finished that thought, he willed his Status back open and focused on the Skills.
“Basic Swordsmanship ( I ) : Aids the User with most one-handed bladed weapon attacks and movements. Slight increase in Damage dealt with any bladed weapon.”
“Summon Weapon* ( I ): Summons a mana-forged weapon scaling with the User’s level. User may manipulate its form into any of the available forms. Cost 10 Mana.”
Current available forms: Ka-BAR | Iron Short sword
“Double Strike* ( I ): The User’s next action will cost 1.5x the mana/stamina cost but will trigger its effects/actions an additional time.”
“Font of Wisdom* ( I ): User gains EXP, Stats, and Skills at an increased rate. This skill will evolve with the User.”
“Heavy Slash* ( I ): Infuse any bladed weapon with mana to deal significantly more Damage. Cost 20 Mana.”
After noticing the pattern of asterisks on all his skills, Owen was racking his brain with what it could mean when a new screen appeared.
“That must have been what all those error screens earlier were all about. Well, it’s got to be in that last Tab, so let’s see.” Willing his final Tab open, Owen chose the display option.
“Yeah, I get what the message earlier meant when it said the World System had flaws. It doesn’t even show my Hit Points correctly, and after all that, playing around with the sword. I’m only down a few Stamina, but this one says Active. Yup, found a bug.” Owen sighs disappointedly, “Well, at least my ARMS System seems top-notch. Now, about that shop.” Owen wills the Tab back up but cannot get the shop to open. Growing frustrated, he huffs, “Alright, note to self. Things with lines through them just don’t work. Time to tinker then.” Without dismissing the screen, Owen thought about the Leather Armor in his Armory.
White particles coalesced around his chest and right shoulder as the armor magically equipped itself. Dismissing the screen, he then tried storing both the armor and sword. Near instantaneously, they disappeared without any light. Willing them back, they also appeared instantly. “Woah. Okay, so the light show is only the first time? Hmm.” While thinking, Owen dismissed the armor and sword again, but this time, he also willed his shirt away. With a thought, it was gone and in his Inventory. “Wait, if it’s there, can I not just wear it?” He let out a breath of relief as the shirt reappeared on him with a thought. “Alright, so Inventory and Armory work the same. I’m just guessing Armory only lists weapons and armor.” Looking around, he spotted a stick nearby and tried to store it away. As nothing was happening, he tried to reach out to it instead, still with no success. Conceding defeat, he shuffled over and tried once more now that it was right under him. Kicking the stick in frustration, he yelled, “Why won’t you go in!” Reaching down and grabbing it caused the stick almost to digitize as tiny white lines appeared before it disappeared. Checking his Inventory confirmed he was now the proud owner of a stick. “Well, that was weird; it wasn’t touch, right? I guess I did kick it, and I’m wearing boots. I guess I’ll have to test more with that later. Maybe once I picked it up, it was “Mine.” Maybe? Maybe not. Whatever, I didn’t snap you stick.” He fussed as he summoned the stick back out.
“At least I got a nice stick now, alright, that just leaves the Map.” Surprisingly, the map was crude and only showed a small area surrounding a tiny green arrow. The only thing standing out about it was a spot filled in on the map some distance away. “Well, at least I know where I’m supposed to be going.”, Owen huffed as he threw the stick over his shoulder and set out on the beginning of his new life.
