[The system has been installed.]
"What the!? Jesus Christ, dude! That scared the shit out of me!"
While I was questioning the existence of a weird floating translucent blue screen in front of me, another one popped up.
[Registration of user DNA and mana signatures have been confirmed.]
[Please enter your name:]
[ _____ ]
"Eh?"
"What is this? Some kind of AR or MR thing?"
I had seen these new technologies which are used to show people holographic images of things. They were still in development but there was a bunch of cool stuff available in the market. Of course, I never really got to try them hands-on but I had seen them on YouTube and TV. I thought it was a cool technology but right now what was in front of me wasn't something produced by an attached accessory. It was just there somehow. Floating in the air and even moving relative to the change of my field of view.
While I couldn't make head or tail of it, I clicked on the space where it was blinking with a dash and a keyboard-like interface appeared. I entered my name as "Rio".
[Username has been entered.]
[Welcome to the System, Rio! All the basic system resources will be unlocked momentarily. Use the tutorial to understand its basic functionalities.]
[Character Profile construction complete!]
[Abilities unlocked!]
[Inventory unlocked!]
[Appraisal unlocked!]
[Map unlocked!]
[Logs unlocked!]
[All basic systems are ready to be used.
Would you like to start the tutorial? Yes/ No ]
Wait a sec, is this the power she gave me?
It seemed like I had awakened those powers at last that she gave me. I was expecting something like suddenly acquiring superhuman strength or shooting magic from my hands but it was more like an in-built game system to help me out with things. There were various things and I needed to understand them.
I looked at the portal and it didn't seem like it'll close anytime soon. Perhaps it was made such that it'll close once I exit. But I was really curious about what it was all about. I was a nerdy guy when it came to computer-related stuff and especially when it was related to gaming and modern technology. VR gaming was one of my most anticipated technologies. What was in front of me was something on a similar level so my hype was out of the roof. And it's a gamer's dream to have such a game system in real life, gaining levels and such and maxing out all the stats.
Could I also experience such a thing? Such were my thoughts as I clicked on the "Yes" button. It disappeared after taking the input.
[Welcome Rio, to the tutorial program for dummies who are using the system for the first time.
I will teach you how to use your basic system functionalities in an easy-to-understand way so that even if you're the dumbest person in the world, you will still be able to learn them. Let's begin!
Step 1: Speak or think of the word "Character Profile", "Profile" or "Status" to call out your profile window. It'll have all your standard status and abilities listed in a way you will find convenient. To close it, speak or think "Profile Close" or just "Close". Go ahead and try it!]
"Character Profile?"
As I muttered those words, half doubtful and half excited, in front of me a new screen came. It was bigger as compared to other screens and had a bunch of information regarding me.
***Character Profile***
Name: Rio
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Race: Human (712-Human)
Level: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 10/10
Job:
Primary: Apprentice Swordsman
Secondary: None
Titles acquired:
Lost Stranger, Holder of Entranos's last will, Person from a different world, Holder of ???? Sword, Ruin Explorer, ????'? ???????
Stats:
STR: 10
DEX: 10
DEF: 10
AGI:10
VIT: 10
INT:10
Luck: 80
Special Abilities:
Appraisal, Inventory, Map, Logs, Entranos's Blessing, Universal Language Acquisition
Abilities:
Sword Technique I
***
After checking out the whole thing, I found it quite easy to understand. The interface was similar to game-like statuses. There were some strange titles with "????" in their names that I was curious about. Perhaps they were hidden right now and will be unlocked as I level up? Also, my race was written as human but then in brackets, there was this 712- number prefix attached. I didn't know what that meant.
My level was 1 and my primary job was set to Apprentice Swordsman.
I kinda wanna be a Mage though. Does it not give you an option for a job change?
I don't know how it was decided but there was also a second job which was currently empty.
Does that mean I will get new jobs to choose from as I level up?
That sounds like fun.
My HP(Health Points) and MP(Mana Points) were both 10. It was understandable since I was just a level 1 noob.
Similarly, all stats were all 10, except Luck which was at 80. I had no idea if Luck was high or low. It was when compared to other stats, but it could also mean Luck was a stat that remained fixed and didn't grow. In such a case, I wanted to know if it was high or low and what were the implications of Luck in real life anyway. Did it put my real-life luck value based on how fortunate I was? If so, then I felt I was relatively higher than what luck I really had. They might also grow along with my level but right now I was probably the weakest player in a game I was still not sure what was. (Spoiler alert, the game was RPG except you were the player. There were also no respawns after death.)
I had a Sword Technique I ability and then some special abilities like Appraisal, Inventory, Map, Logs, Entranos's Blessing, and Universal Language Acquisition.
I was aware of the first 4 since they were pretty standard in games. Appraisal allowed you to appraise or inspect things by giving brief information about them. A blessing for anyone traveling to different worlds in anime and novels. Inventory was used to store things and loots. Map was, as the name suggested, a map of the local area around you. Logs contained logs of all the system notifications like leveling up, gaining new abilities, and storing or retrieving items from inventory.
But I was still not sure about the Entranos's Blessing thing. Just what kind of blessing was it? The last one, Universal Language Acquisition was a mouthful but I guessed it meant I could learn all kinds of languages in the universe.
That sounds like a very useful ability. Maybe now I can learn French, German, Japanese, and all other languages and boost my CV!
Since I had nothing more to gain from pondering, I tried closing the screen by muttering in my head "Close" and it disappeared.
"That's pretty simple and convenient."
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed step 1 of the tutorial. Let's proceed to the next step!
Step 2: In this step, you'll learn how to use acquired abilities. Abilities are acquired by people after going through rigorous training. Alternately, after they receive blessings from superior beings or through skill scrolls are found all around the world in dungeons and ruins. They range from Combat oriented to Support to Utility oriented. Using them is as simple as saying the name of the abilities in words or in your head while making a proper pose. Sometimes they require mana or certain conditions. In case the conditions don't meet, the ability won't be activated. Give it a try!]
From what I understood I had to speak or think of the ability and take action for it to activate. And certain abilities had a specific condition that needed to be met for that ability to activate.
"Okay then. Let's try it out."
I took out my sword and took a fighting pose with the Katana.
"
The next instant, I unleashed a series of swings. The swings, my footwork, and my breathing were all coordinated as I performed them. It definitely wasn't because of my hidden talent in a sword. So it must be the result of the ability itself.
After 4-5 moves I stopped. My breathing returned to normal and I lowered my sword.
Damn! That was so sick! I felt like a warrior from video games just now. Haha. Hell yeah!
Next, I tried special abilities.
The First was Appraisal.
"Appraisal."
…
Nothing happened.
Huh? Why didn't it work? Is it a bug?
I tried it again on the sword in my hand and this time it worked.
[Name: Noname
Type: Divine Katana]
There was a small downward-facing triangle at the bottom right corner. I focused my attention on it and the screen expanded with more details about the weapon.
[Name: Noname
Type: Divine Katana
Grade: Unknown
Condition: Perfect, Fallen, Sealed
Attack: +5400
Defense: +2250
Description: A sword created by the dragon deity Entranos and was used to slay the dragon god herself, thus acquiring the Supreme Dragon Slayer, Ancient God Slayer, and Creator Slayer titles. A sword that has a will of its own and that can get attached to the user's core and grow stronger.
>Currently, no perks are activated.]
I see. So you need to focus on an object to get the appraisal results. Also this katana, it's pretty great, isn't it? The attack and defense are in 4-digits. And it's cool looking. I don't think I'll ever give it away. But what's with the name of the sword? Am I supposed to name it?
I thought for a while but couldn't come up with something good. So, I decided to name it later when I find a good name for it.
Sigh...
I don't even have the paperwork for it. I will have to keep it hidden and search for how to get the fake paperwork later. It's not something as dangerous as a gun and I could claim it to be a decorative item. So it's probably fine… Probably.
Next, I tried Appeasing the Black crystal shards which I was originally collecting.
[Name: Divine Sealing Crystal fragment
Type: Sealing Crystal
Grade: Divine
Condition: Shattered, Unusable
Description: The shard was originally a part of a giant crystal whose origins are unknown. It possesses the ability to seal the soul of other beings by passing specific mana through it. Currently doesn't hold any soul.]
The appraisal results seemed to disappear once I would stop focusing on it or when a certain time passes.
After the Appraisal, I checked the Inventory.
It was as I predicted. A screen with empty rows and columns of boxes. There was nothing listed.
I took a crystal shard I had in my pockets and tried putting it inside the screen but it fell from the other side. These screens were mere projections, it seemed. They couldn't be touched.
Now then, how would you store it inside if not like this? Maybe... Store?
The shard on my head suddenly disappeared and when I checked the Inventory the first box had that item.
Hell yeah!
Then, to take it back, maybe... Retrieve.
Bingo!
Both my guesses were right on the mark and after thinking of retrieving it, it was back in my empty hand.
After that, I did a bunch of tests and figured out I could store all the black crystal shards in one go from as far as 30 meters. I could retrieve items in whatever quality I wished and place them in a radius of 30 meters around me where I specified.
I could also store my Katana and retrieve it as I wished. There was almost no time gap between my retrieving and the item appearing back. So it was pretty convenient.
No, wait a second. Since I have Inventory, I don't even need to find a place to safely keep the Katana. Sweet!
I was overjoyed to find such a useful ability and used it to store all the crystal shards, Katana, and a few fallen stone pieces from near the altar.
As for Map, it just showed me a map screen that had a birds-eye view of the hall I was currently in. There was nothing else there. I could see the altar where the portal was and the place where the black crystal was previously located. I was a Red arrow pointing towards the portal on the map.
I also quickly checked Log skill and it showed me all the messages and notifications I had received up until now.
This could be useful when I have to re-read some notifications I miss out on in the future or something.
Once my business was done I was ready to move through the portal but I was once again disturbed by the system's message.
[Congratulations! You have completed stage 2 of the tutorial. With this, you are more or less ready to face the harsh world outside. Kill monsters, demons, and other beings to gain levels and new abilities. Good luck!
Tutorial finished!]
Well, I guess this is done too. Overall, while wordy, it was a useful tutorial for first-timers like me. Thanks, System.
"Now, let's go home!"
I said and I entered the portal to home.
***
**End of Prologue**