Buyers' guilt set in almost immediately. I am not here to save humanity or be noble. Humanity deserves nothing. When my parents passed few people even cared enough to even show their faces at the funeral. All of their supposed lifelong friends were too busy or caught up in their own lives to even pretend they cared for Mom and Dad.
A few months later when my uncle passed though, suddenly everything was dropped to offer condolences for a man I barely knew. Even thinking about it now I can feel my face flush with anger at the leaches talking about the one time he asked them for a loan, and he didn't quite pay everything back. I'd have completely lost hope in humanity at that time if an anonymous letter hadn't quenched my rage.
The letter told the story of a little girl in London abandoned by her parents. She ran away from an orphanage young to escape abuse. After barely surviving on her own for a year the pains of hunger compelled her to steal food left on tables. At a restaurant known to have rich customers who hardly touched their meal her life changed. When everyone at the table had left, she reached up to grab a plate of food and accidentally knocked my uncle's wallet on the ground as well.
My uncle eventually noticed that the wallet was missing and went back to the table. He easily found it laying on the ground besides embroidered napkins and silverware. What he did not expect to find was a child who looked ghostly thin in clothes that were ragged, eating his leftovers. Neither were entirely sure what overcame my uncle at that moment. He just watched her as she used the utensils to eat the lukewarm steak and potatoes. Even though the pains of hunger tempted her to savagely devour the food with her hands, her ingrained manners remained.
Having satisfied the hole in her stomach only then noticed him staring, waiting with an outstretched hand. She became something like his unofficial child after that and he took care of her for years until recently when she started her independent career. The execution of his Will and Testament had been left to her. She notified me that out of all family alive I had been chosen to receive everything as he would often tell her stories of a charming nephew as a child.
This one letter saved me from bitterly attacking the people present at his passing. To this day I still feel sorrow not knowing him more in recent years. While I always say he was estranged to me, it was more likely that my parents in all their pride had cut off communication with him at some point in my youth.
One day I would personally thank her for helping me more than she could imagine but, right now it was time to deal with the consequences of not asking the right questions to Tana. See, when I had the entrepreneurial idea to buy a school where magic and what the system offered would be taught, I overlooked important information. In most games, the first time something is accomplished there is an extra reward. The downside is that usually there is also an accompanying announcement.
World First: Establish an Academy
As the first academy established inhabitant will receive the choice of an additional reward. Current facilities do not meet the specifications for all options given. After Terraformation minor adjustments will be made to the current campus.
Option 1 Combat Academy: Allows inhabitants admitted to the academy to learn any form of combat class from the basic eight classes. As a specialized academy, two instructors for each class will be allotted at the C level after the Terraformation process is completed.
Option 2 Profession Academy: Allows inhabitants admitted to the academy to learn any form of crafting class from the basic eight professions. As a specialized academy, two instructors for each class will be allotted at the C level after the Terraformation process is completed.
Option 3 Omni Academy: Allows inhabitants admitted to the academy to learn any form of combat or crafting class from the basic eight respectively. As a generalized academy, one instructor for each class and a headmaster will be allotted at the C level after the Terraformation process is completed.
I could pretend that careful consideration went into my choice of reward but, honestly, I just went with my instinct. "Tana, I pick option 3," I said allowed after only a short pause. With my choice locked in, I eagerly awaited the next system prompt but, instead, I was greeted with a shockingly large popup.
Congratulations to Ezekiel Griffiths on the First World First achievement: Establish an Academy.
This has unlocked a new tab in inhabitants' interface 'world first' where you will be able to see a list of extraordinary people who have been the first to have a significant achievement. No clues on how to obtain a world first will be given. Achievements will not be broadcast unless it pertains to a large portion of the population.
A look of shock must have been evident on my face because Tana seemed to be asking if I was alright. My mind had completely zoned her out. In most cases, I prefer to remain under the radar. Life is simplest when walking into a crowd offers amenity rather than a path. As one could guess my phone started ringing almost immediately which snapped me back to reality.
As I reached for my phone Tana began to speak again, "I have noticed a high volume of calls incoming to your communication system. Would you like to convert to the systems messaging feature?" I paused mid-reach and looked towards where Tana was hovering in the air debating what to do. She had not given me a warning last time I had created a world-first achievement. Would something similar happen again?
"I don't know Tana that depends, will everyone in the world see my name again if I say yes," There was a fair bit of a bite in my tone and to my surprise, she answered with an equally sassy tone. "I don't know Ezekiel are you going to say yes without asking additional questions again," to be fair I probably deserved that response. It is not often that an AI planted in your head offers information and I had been treating her though she was just a mindless drone. Treating her as another person and using my emotional intelligence would be better for me in the long run.
"I am sorry Tana. There were very few AI on this planet capable of expression so close to that of a human. In the future is it possible for you to warn me if there is a chance of my actions causing a worldwide announcement," I asked in a much gentler tone.
A warm-hearted expression returned to her face as well as she walked over to my phone and touched it with her hand. "It is possible for me to give you a warning if there is a high chance something could lead to a world-first right before you perform the action. I will do this in the future. This is not a totally accurate system since even I am not allowed to access all possible worlds first. Some actions deemed important by the system are made first's even without another instance of it happening. Integrating your communication system is a standard action by all those new to the system and I have just completed the process since there are too many advantages offered to you," Finished talking she took a seat in the air once more.
I really wanted to stop her from talking again as her explanation was a little long-winded but, that would have been quite rude to someone trying to help me. I gave a brief thank you and then focused on my Hud once again. There was a new icon of a phone on my interface menu that was blinking so I clicked it.
I had an astounding number of messages from almost everyone in my contact list. The interface was surprisingly easy to use and offered many sorting options and mass reply options. After sorting out all the responses with congratulations and WTF and a system-generated response there were only two messages left. One was from a group chat where my friends insisted that they were coming over to share information. The other was from a long-forgotten name of a high school fling asking for a comment for the news. I gave her a response similar to the other mass responses I sent basically saying I accidentally purchased the university while talking about it with my AI.
Shortly after responding, I remembered why our relationship had failed as she began throwing out accusations about world domination and stealing public property. At that time 4-Tana told me it was possible to share previous AI responses to someone so their own could verify my claims. After doing so I answered a few more questions but the accusatory tone was still prevalent. I informed her if the news station wanted more information to send someone other than her to ask questions in person and blocked future communication from her.
Thinking that I had been on the couch for too long at this point I began to stand and stretch. My next course of action was difficult to decide, so I began to pace from the living area to the balcony numerous times. Tana had informed me that purchasing other facilities would require me to be close to them or inside the location. When I thought about looking at the Academy's interface Tana recommended that I leave it alone and let the headmaster handle it when the system completed Terraforming. Out of ideas, I asked Tana what I should currently be doing.
"Most people use the week before Terraforming to get to a safe location and come to terms with the situation. Due to your unexpectedly high acceptance rate with the system and geographical benefits, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the system. It is possible to check out your basic stats or try to improve them but, gains will be made at the normal rate since there is currently no Magisphere," Tana answered a bit more concisely than her previous answers.
I can see my stats! A giddy simile broke out across my face again thinking about how cool this would be once again choosing to ignore the possibility of death that could happen should the system spawn a dragon or some other mythical being because someone said the message fonts were stupid. "View all stats," I practically screamed aloud.
Name: Ezekiel Griffiths
Titles: None
Class: None
Profession: None
Health: 90/100
Physical stats: Strength: 14 (-1) Vitality: 16 (-2) Dexterity: 11 (-3)
Mental/mana stats: Intelligence: 18 (-1) Wisdom: 21
Hidden stats: locked
Debuffs: Drunkard – after constant consumption of excessive alcohol over a prolonged period of time your health has slowly been affected. Effects are easily reversible with help from potions or other remedies. Time remaining: 165 hours 4 mins 24 sec *Bonus: High possibility of the condition being cured with the successful development of the Magisphere.
Affinities: Locked
Abilities: None - (Chooseable B level Available)
Skills:
Tier 5:
Emotional intelligence: level 9/10 (20,000/1,000,000 exp to next level) – Inhabitant is able to empathize and understand most human situations and thought processes even from those who might not understand themselves. 50% reduction to non-human entities.
Tier 2:
Wilderness survival: level 4/10 (348/1,000 exp to next level) – Inhabitant is able to identify editable and poisonous plants, create basic survival shelters and sustain themselves off the wilderness for up to a few weeks. *Knowledge will be updated automatically after Terraformation
Tier 1:
Blacksmithing: Level 8/10 (78/100 exp to next level) – Inhabitant is familiar with how to heat and shape Metal to some extent and teach others the basics behind currently obtained knowledge. *Careful newbie you might burn something.
Sword Play: Level 2/10 (12/100 exp to next level) Inhabitant is familiar with swinging around a steel sword and completed the minimal requirements to obtain this skill. *Bonus: ½ skills the system boosted to allow inhabitants a greater chance of survival. Normally would take much more effort to obtain.
Mana manipulation (repressed): level 1 (23/100 exp to next level) Inhabitant has meditated every day for the past year and feels more connected to the world around them. *Bonus: ½ skills the system boosted to allow inhabitants a greater chance of survival. Normally would take significantly more effort to obtain.