On the other side, Remio found himself in a wooden room of similar dimensions to the one he had just left. There, the professor was waiting for him with a smile:
"At least you don't hesitate, that's something! Come and see, we have work to do."
In the room, he showed him a kind of bowl, reminiscent of a stoup, filled with a bluish liquid. He explained to him:
"You put your hands on either side and normally something will show up in the water. I know it sounds absurd, but don't ask too many questions until you've tried it."
Remio obeyed, because even though the order seemed strange to him, he knew enough about Yocus to know that absurdity was an integral part of it.
As he placed his hands on the designated spots, the liquid became cloudy before it turned smooth as glass and an image formed.
At the top of the image was his first and last name. Underneath, the word "Novice" appeared with the digit 1. Then a series of words paired with numbers that he ignored to focus on a rough representation of his body.
Each part of his body had a square associated with it, sometimes with a drawing. He immediately understood that it described the equipment he was wearing.
The professor left him a short moment to digest all this information before intervening:
"Well, I guess you have an idea of what it is, but you might as well start from the beginning, so that you can begin with a solid foundation."
"Yes, that's the famous status..."
"Exactly! So, the status, as you just called it, describes your avatar, what you are in the world of Yocus. At the top, you have your identity, which cannot be forged. You can change it by various means but be aware that any trace of it will be immediately modified. Basically, you can change your name but everyone who knows you will know the new one. Is that clear?"
"Don't rely on a change of identity to disappear basically?"
"That's right! Next, your profession appears, which is novice since you start, with the number of the grade you are at. Be careful, don't talk about level for the profession, you'll see why later. In the meantime, try to remember it. I'll explain how to increase it later. Since that's the point of the game. Can you keep up?"
"So far, I've got it all figured out."
"Good, then! After that, there is your life associated with your maximum life. It's simple, it drops to zero you die. Underneath, you have the combat statistics, your attack and your defense. As you can see, they are respectively at 10 and 100 which is the basic level for all beginners. On the other side you have their equivalent for magic, although this will not be of any use to you for a long time. I am passing quickly since you seem to be following but don't hesitate to interrupt me if necessary."
"Don't worry, it's fine for now."
The teacher seemed so relieved by Remio's answer that he let out a nervous laugh before continuing:
"The drawing represents your body with all your equipment. For example, on your torso you have your gambeson, on your feet you have your boots, etc. Your equipment is divided into armor elements, your weapon and accessories. The first ones are used to attenuate an attack depending on where you receive it, knowing that there is a specific factor for each part of the body due to the fact that you are a human. In the case of the torso, for example, you receive the totality of the damage after the withdrawal linked to your armor score because the coefficient is 1."
"If I understand the reasoning correctly, my arms which have a coefficient of 0.8 will only make me lose 0.8 life points with each hit, whereas an identical hit to the torso would make me lose 1."
"That's it, perfect, at least you get it quickly. Except that, as I said before, there is the armor that comes into play. In itself, it's a bit complicated to explain directly but you'll get the general principle like that. Your deduction of damage coming from your opponent depends on your overall armor plus the armor of the affected body part. Thus, you get what is called the defensive score."
"Wow, I'm not sure I followed everything. So, I have 100 of basic armor to which I add the 20 that the gambison as you called it brings me. So I have an armor score of 120 for the torso. Am I right?"
"You're right. So this score indicates two things: on the one hand, the opponent's damage must exceed a threshold which is the number of tens in excess of 100 of this score, in your case 2, and on the other hand, it indicates the amount of damage required from the opponent for you to take 100. From these two points, you get the damage done, knowing that the damage is rounded up each time."
"So if I take 120 damage, I would actually lose 100 life points... However, if I take 12, I remove 2 points because of the threshold and I divide by 120%... But in this case, there is a problem... Because if I repeat this for 120, I get 99 and not 100... So, I should divide by 120% minus the threshold of 2 so 118%. Am I good?"
"Erf, I guess so... Afterwards, what you have to remember is the state of mind, not the exact way it works."
The professor, embarrassed by his inability to answer the question, changed the subject:
"Now, for the weapon it works the same way, the value indicates the conversion of the attack into damage. So your knife, which has an efficiency of 50, converts your 10 attack into 5 damage for the opponent before his attenuations intervene. "
"That's easy, but what is the speed underneath?"
"Weapon speeds are classified as light, normal and heavy. In practice there are others, but by then you will have mastered all this by yourself. No matter how fast you are in the real world, here it depends on your weapon. Since the knife is light, you have the time to make two hits while a normal weapon will only make one hit and so on between each category. Last but not least, you have a talisman whose description is quite explicit."
"Avoid Death against the sacrifice of the avatar" reads Remio. "So, as long as I wear it, if I die in this world, I don't really die?"
"That's exactly right. But you should know that you will lose the talisman and you will have to get a new one. Don't worry, we have a large supply at the academy. In case you have any doubts, I have prepared this summary diagram, who knows, maybe it will help you. However, don't laugh, I had to do it by hand, the photocopier being out of order for a change..."
Remio held back his laughter when he received the "diagram" from the professor, so much so that it resembled a doodle.
He thanked him for his attention because even if the drawing was of mediocre quality, the help he would bring did not seem negligible to him.
"Well, now that you're up to speed on the status, let's move on to a real fight."
They left the room and found themselves in the middle of a bustling city. Around them, a crowd as diverse as in Thalacia was bustling in all directions. Many passersby wore weapons and armor, but others looked like ordinary civilians in work clothes.
The professor led Remio to the exit of the city where they arrived in a field after a fifteen minute walk outside the walls. There, hopping creatures greeted them.
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Status:
Remio
Novice : 1
Life : 50/50
Attack : 10 | Magic : 0
Armor : 100 | Protection : 100
Weapon : Novice's knife
-Prerequisite : Novice or above.
-Efficiency: 50 | Type: Light
Head : -
Top : Light Gambeson
-Prerequisite : Novice, Fighter or above.
-Armor : +20
Bottom: Light Pants
-Prerequisite: Novice, Fighter or above.
-Armor: +20
Arms: -
Feet: Walking boot
-Prerequisite: Novice or above
-Armor: +10
Neck : Talisman of resurrection
-Avoids Death in exchange for the avatar's sacrifice. Destroyed after use.