[Welcome Gamer]
"Good to be back." Zeke said, feeling a bit more relieved now that he is interacting with the system. This is not in the real world however; this is inside his head as he sleeps.
Zeke has two abilities that he developed while he was on earth. This is alongside his talent for gaming. One of these abilities is being conscious even in his sleep. The other is being able to think clearly in this state. Both of which proved to be useful in climbing to the top of pro - gaming. By being able to do both, he was able to think up of strategies even as his body was resting and, furthermore, time moves slower in his head making an hour last for two inside it.
"Can I interact with the system?" He asked, trying out the commands first before continuing.
[Yes. Voice recognition is possible. Should we register the gamer's voice?]
"Please do." Zeke replied, giving the system a sample of his vocals. From the lowest pitch he could do up to the highest.
[Voice registration is now complete.] The system displayed.
"Good. Please show me the features of this system."
[Understood.] It replied, showing a long list of details about the Gamer's System.
[Gamer's System Version 1.1]
[Information: The current patch allows the player to use the [Analysis] as a passive and the [Inventory] works as an activatable skill.]
"Wait, does that mean that I need to have some patches done before I can get the other free features?" Zeke asked.
[Yes. That is correct. The next patch will happen upon the player reaching level 10.]
Zeke suddenly remembered how the god Chrono laughed as the three major deities were talking about giving him a system. His brow furrowed thinking how these almighty beings are toying with him.
*Sigh*
"Fine. Have it your way." He thought, going to his basic attributes.
[Name: Zeke Elwood]
[Species: Human]
{Specification: None]
[Level: 1/100]
"So I'm back at [Level 1] huh." Zeke said, not actually getting sad about this. He's rather excited because he can have a do over of the first steps he took.
"System, is the level cap the same for all the species of this world?" Zeke asked.
[Searching…]
[Answers are not within the system information, please gather more data.]
"Right. I thought so." Zeke said knowing that an unpatched version of the system won't have all the features he needs. He then proceeded to his attributes which, surprised him.
[Health: 2,000]
[Mana: 1,000]
[Strength: 27]
[Speed: 26]
[Intelligence: 33]
[Endurance: 40]
[Luck: 28]
"Holy crap, that's actually a big bonus." He smiled at the stats which have grown much higher from the [Level 1] attributes he had back on the [Trial Stage].
That didn't end there. Instead of having only 10 points he can allocate to his attributes, he has 20 points. Also, the skill points he'll use to buy skills didn't start at 2 – it started at 5.
"Now I'm wondering what those three actually want to happen." He thought to himself as, they gave him a weaker Gamer's System to start with and yet, everything else have been buffed.
He then went to see if he his shield is still there and, unfortunately it isn't. But there is now a shop available from where he could buy items and weapons. There is also a starting amount of money he can use which, he's guessing, came from the price of his shield.
Zeke bought a nice-looking buckler and a sword, thinking that he still needs to learn a bunch of things before he can handle weapons other than these two.
He then proceeded to the skill choices thinking that [Poison Cloud] won't be a good starting skill if he'll be around people a lot.
"That's a shame, it's a pretty handy skill after all." He told himself, looking at other skills that could be a good potential starter.
"Okay let's get this one." Considering his current status points, Zeke chose the skills that would probably be the best for him even if he suddenly encounters an overpowered enemy.
[Skill Name: Blood Counter]
[Cost: 1 Skill Point]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 50]
[Information: Allows the caster to return the damage he has received to the one who made them. The damage returned is 10%. The damage scales with the skill's rank.]
"If I take fatal damage from a strong enemy, then I can return that blow and, even if it's just [10%] that should be enough for me to turn the tides of the fight." He thought to himself.
Aside from this, there are four other skills which Zeke took. All of which costs only a single skill point, making him have as much as 5 skills at level 1.
[Skill Name: Counter]
[Cost: 1 Skill Point]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: Gives the passive's owner a chance to counter 5% of the attacks that he receives. The chance scales with the skill's rank]
Zeke thought of the best way he could make use of his [Endurance] and found this skill at the shop. With his [Endurance] Zeke can last longer in a fight and, the longer the fight goes on, the higher his chances of activating [Counter] no matter how low the percentage is.
Of course, there's a better skill named [Backfire] but it costs 5 skill points, something which Zeke didn't want to use up all his points on. Plus, if Zeke gets to use the skill on a normal basis then, it would soon raise its rank, making it possibly as good as [Backfire] on its earlier ranks.
…
[Skill Name: Mana Conversion]
[Cost: 1 Skill Point]
[Rank: Unranked]
[Skill Type: Scaling]
[Mana Consumed: Caster dependent]
[Information: Allows the caster to convert some of his mana into attribute and health points.]
With Zeke's mana reaching [1,000] he thought that it would be good to have something like this which could make him deplete the mana pool that is too large for his current level. If he enhances his attributes then, he can kill monsters faster. This, in turn, will help him in leveling up faster.
…
[Skill Name: Lesser Regeneration]
[Cost: 1 Skill Point]
[Rank: F-]
[Skill Type: Passive]
[Mana Consumed: None]
[Information: Heals the caster and recovers most wounds except for those that tears off body parts. Regeneration is equivalent to 2% of the caster's health per 5 seconds. The regeneration scales with the skill's rank.]
This skill is actually bought by Zeke to support [Counter]. Seeing how low the chances are, if he can heal as fast as the damages are made then, the chances of activation are once again raised because the fight will be prolonged.
...
[Skill Name: Quick Step]
[Cost: 1 Skill Point]
[Rank: F]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Mana Consumed: 20]
[Information: Allows the caster to move quickly at a short distance.]
This is the final skill which Zeke bought. One which helps him recover when his health goes down the safe amount. If he keeps using quick step then, he can dodge the blows and heal at the same time. The aim of this ability is to make him dodge enough in order to heal properly.
"I think that's enough for now." Zeke thought as he finished going through the skills.
After this, he went through the settings and, sure enough, there are active missions for him to perform.
[Main Quest: Defeat the Evil King]
"Who's this supposed to be?" Zeke thought of how vague the Main Quest is but, he let it slide for now, thinking that he'd get the answers he need along the way. Aside from this, there are some other quests that he could perform.
[Sub Quest: Eat Dinner]
[Reward: 1 Skill Point]
[Sub Quest: Sleep Properly]
[Reward: 1 Skill Point]
"These aren't even adventure related quests. Who thought of adding these to the missions?" Zeke said out loud, wanting the three deities to hear him.
Chrono chuckled as he heard Zeke say this. He's the one who came up with the silly things to add in the mix after all.
But for that moment, Zeke let it slide, finally starting to wake up to the sound of the carriage finally stopping. Keith kept gently slapping his face until, he opened his eyes.
"Zeke, you can come down now. My beautiful wife says that it's okay for you to stay." Hark said. It turns out that, the carriage has already stopped for a while.
In front of the house is Hark together with his wife. Admittedly, Zeke is amazed at her beauty and wondered, how Hark was able to get a woman like her.
"Cut it out Hark, you're embarrassing me." Hark's wife jested as she elbowed him. To Zeke's eyes, they look like a really happy couple.
"Just like my own parents back on earth." Zeke thought as his mind also went to the idea of hoping that their kid doesn't grow as problematic as his have.
"Please come inside, dinner is ready." She said, in a warm and gentle tone.
"Thanks for having me." Zeke answered, bowing his head before entering their house.
He thought of how this is a slow start, but then again, it's his first day... or rather first night in this world.
"I think relaxing for now won't do me any harm."