I wake up, on a massive branch, nearly forgetting what happened.
I am still groggy, it's like last night was a dream. But it's a game. Several nights of sleep, huh...
Fucking tired, is the next sleep the one where I feel better? Wait, I was up for almost a cycle and a half. Day.
Anyway, I stretch when I stand, taking in how the bark feels at a smaller level. It's almost like I can wedge myself in between its atoms, its that huge of a tree. The fact what counts as ground is the tree is stranger, because there's smaller trees down there.
I do not want to look back down.
I hear music, faintly, way in the distance.
"Um... What?" I mutter, out loud. It's coming... From about 4-5 o clock...
I turn to my right, turning around, and I have a wonderful journey of walking along a massive branch, thinking about how insects view the world. Overwhelmingly Big. That's the Universe for you.
After taking a nice rest, where I explored my skill menu, with the one page, thinking about what I could do.
'Noct, can you look for someone to help.' I ask, as we walk towards the tree's center.
'No need, just keep walking, I sense their shadows moving.' He replies, and he shrugs.
'You can act how you want while attached to me. Wait, have you formed words before?' I ask him.
'No. Thanks for the idea. Bad Idea, James' Shadow is too big, it doesn't realise how big it is. It leaves other shadows alone because it can't sense them because of how big it is. It's... Too powerful.'
Huh.
I guess that means that James is pretty powerful, considering. A magical boy, with a extremely powerful... wait, his shadow was already powerful, and he got more powerful, which made the shadow more powerful. Too fast maybe, and it doesn't realise it's power?
Anyway, I just want to leave. This is a much higher level thing then I wanted...
"Hey, who are you?" I hear, from the distance.
The next instant, there is a muscular child, who is my size, standing there. He looks like he's 8.
Built like a teenage body builder, though. I don't understand but okay.
"Will you play with me?" He asks.
"What game?" I ask. He grabs my hand, and now we're in a room with a massive shelf, and there's a whole bunch of board games.
"Sure." I say, child coming out, and I look through them all.
"What do you like?" He asks. I recognize tens of them, and don't even more.
"Well, I wouldn't know what to pick, with all of these." I say, and I hear a voice.
"Tim, who's your friend, and how did he get here?" I hear, and a door I thought was a wall opens, and I feel the suction of the air moving, and it bellows, pushing me a few feet, and I land on my knees.
There is a massive woman.
There are also other massive things. Nice figure...
Wait.
"Hello ma'am. He asked me to play, and brought me here. I wouldn't mind playing, for a bit. I'd come back even, as I see how we could be friends." I say, and she smiles.
"Okay. Tim, do your betting thing you do with mortals, maybe he'll win for once." She says, shutting it gently.
"Betting? I don't have a lot." I say, and he nods.
"I can bet information if you want?" I say, and he nods. "That's fine. Is 1 gold more or 1 silver?" He asks.
"Um... I think gold is worth more..." I say, and he nods.
"What else do you have. Like that." He says.
"Answers?" I ask, and he nods, giggling.
"Oh, I could Answer Questions. Absolutely Honest, even. I could go on for days about Absolutely Honest." I say, and I see a twinkle in his eye.
"Great! Okay, what game? Which of us wins, get to ask a question." He suggests, and I nod.
"Fine with me." I say, and he giggles, and I see his eyes flash colors.
"Great. Tim, have fun, enjoy your toy." I hear from the distance, and I hear a massive door open. Um... Fuck, this is an amazing experience so far, fucking ten out of five star game. An Autistic Young God Giant.
"Rock Paper Scissors." He says. I shrug, and we're in a new room, and it's a gigantic wonderland for kids. Cool things everywhere games galore space to sit and be comfy, movie theater screens, fucking pools.
"Sure. Wanna change bet type after?" I ask, and the child vanishes instantly, and a young handsome-ish man is where he was.
"Sure. Ready?" He says, and I take my hand out.
"Rock." He says, and a massive rock manifests in front of him, and it flies at me.
CoC: Elasticity
I get hit head on by it, limbs stretching as inertia catches up and I fly backward, fast. I eventually stop, back where I was.
"Sorry, I didn't say it." I say, and he laughs, hard, falling over.
"Dude, no fucking way. I just tried to blow your mind so fucking much, and you're still being nonchalant. Well, I mean, let's go again." He says, and he pauses.
"Props for being ready to play with a kid who was special." He laughs out.
"Um... I just like kids. That's... Not really something to laugh about..." I say, looking down.
"Oh. Oh. You're, different. Nice set of abilities. I'm not this games, Trickster. I'm a side of the games aspect for games from your world. Includes Mind Games." He says, and I sit for a second. He pauses with this.
"Huh. So, You'll do a betting thing, I'm guessing." I say. He nods.
"Do you want to bet on your shadow, that you'll win? Or will you bet another ability? Who knows. What Game even? In any case, it's important for me to exist, otherwise the game would be reality, and not a game. " He asks, suggesting.
"Are you making me pick? I'm assuming you don't know what games I've played." I ask, thinking.
"Oh, well, there's a lot of competitive things we could do. Fuck it, lets play with dice, higher totals." He suggests.
He manifests a couple sets of dice.
1 Of D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D00-90, D20, each, and we're just rolling them.
"What are you betting." I ask him.
"Fuck it, an Epic Skill." He says, smiling.
"Okay, I'll match. No Cheating, right?" I say, and he smiles, nodding. He rolls him, after handing me a pink coin, and he has a green coin.
Um... My were the pink ones, his got 89, and mine got 119.
"Flip the coin, if heads, by three, if tails, by two." He says, and gets tails. I get tails.
"Well, you win anyway, i failed my thing." He says, and I shrug.
(Rolling Epic Skill.)
(SIN, Greed. Gained. Increases Stats by 1% for each Skill. Calculated Last.)
"Oh shit. Kid, warning, bad luck is worse luck now."
"Can I gamble the skill and another of mine? I actually have a friend I'd like to invite, maybe we can bet for each others, like if I lose one, he can earn mine, and I could earn it back, but from thay point I can't gamble it after losing it?" I ask, grinning.
"Specific as fuck. I don't see what's wrong with that. Better then just now." He says, and now we're in a bar, in a table next to it.
"Wanna just host a party of NPC's and Player's that enjoy gambling?" I ask, and he grins wider.
"Black Jack, I'll be the dealer, and you all get the skill someone else loses. You can bet it, and they can earn it back if you lose it, I'll write a enchanted letter." He says, and raises his hand.
"Done." He adds, as a few materializes in his hand, and I see tiny lines signifying high enchantment detail.
"Huh. I'm guessing I won't mean as much?" I ask.
"Several of yours are Unique. Have you looked inside Insulation? Few abilities allow for someone to achieve what they perform easily." He explains, and soon, enough, 20 people are in a room.
"Two games of Black Jack, make the bet on both be of equal worth, I.E, Five Commons for one Epic. Winners Get the round's selection of skills, these are completely random, doing this later in your potential life once. Launch Day, even if it's a new server. After party is group board games, maybe auctioning of skills for other skills. Skill Trading, new feature, hows that..." He says, and goes on and on about potential features when you reached different levels.
Um, is there a reason why he's doing this?
(You gave him ideas.) It sends, as a notification.
Oh. How am I here? I was in that dungeon.
He pops into existence, a clone of the other, running as a separate person.
"You wanted out, because you wanted to not do the quest, right? So, the quest won't activate, you'll have impact. But unless someone goes to clear the quest, no one will really care. Someone might look for you, after asking questions. Just play, man.
Tonight is to celebrate the game of the century, if business goes right, the world. We can play the best game of the century here though, and for longer. Even get stuff.
I'm planning to turn games into dungeons, and loot and abilities to use elsewhere is the reward. If you want, I can create worlds based off of your anime and books, where we use legendary weapons, near easily. Everyone will find a thing they like most. What makes them happy.
Is there anyone you want as a plus two tonight? I'm gonna run separate decks for each of you, so it's up to her to do well." He says, and my friends list opens, and I see an invite from Serisa... I already accepted hers, so this is a different mechanic. I click accept.
She pops into existence, and I recognize her, but she's hidden well. Customization wise, anyway.
She blushes, standing next to me.
I see her name, above her head. She see's mine and turns redder. She's a Dark Elf / Vampire, and she's hot. Not hotter then reality, but I shouldn't say it anyway.
"You're hot. Did I do good?" I ask, as we walk.
"Do you mean..." She says, looking around.
"I got us in here! You can get skills galore, or sink down. I could give you skills for free!" I say, and I give her a lot of permissions in the friends tab.
"Oh. Um... Okay! I'll see. If I do bad, you are paying for dinner for a week. It's launch day, so I'm being nice." She says, giving me a kiss.
"Okay, Mistress." I say, and we glow a bit. I see a very opaque chain linking us.
Um...
"Don't worry about it!" She says, blushing.
"It's a good thing I don't see more..." I say, kissing her.
"Lovebirds, hurry up, we're starting, we might even play bingo!" I hear, and I see an older man, turning around.
"Yes sir!" Serisa shouts, and she drags me with her.
We all sit down at our own tables, and some people grabbed some other games to play with others while some are partying, but you can see that their interfaces are playing Black Jack.
"Um, sir, can me and my lovely have our own pool for Black Jack? A random skill upon winning, as there is a lot of Players here?" I calm out, as me and her sit down.
We suddenly are in a separate room.
"You and me were playing originally. Now she is.
Pick an ability to bet, I'll roll a random one to give based off of the value of the one you bet.
Pick multiple, you can convert them to higher tier rewards based off of the bet. Reward pool Prioritizes giving abilities lost tonight, so have fun." He says, finishing, and leaves, and now we're in a room with a big tv and gaming system, and a card game is ready to play.
"Black Jack, my lady?" I ask, bowing towards her. She grins, and sits down.
I place down our cards, and the dealer has a 6, and I have a 4 and a 7.
Serisa, has a 2 and a 9.
I take the hit, and Serisa does so too. I got a 8, 19. Serisa got a 7, 18.
I reveal the dealers other card. Its a King. I hit it for the game, and its a 6.
"Whoo, unlucky Six, huh bud?" I hear the games game AI say, as he pops back in.
"I'll hit it for now. What were you risking?" He asks.
"Um, hit me with Concept of Choice being risked there." I say, and he grins. Serisa stares at me, and gets visibly angrier after staring off. "Servant..." She says...
"Rolling!" He says, enthusiastically.
(Epic Unique Skill, Genie! Make others wishes come true three times! Refreshes upon new person, but that doesn't mean if it switches back it'll have more wishes. Use wisely, you don't HAVE to grant wishes. Hidden.)
I look at it immediately, to see if there is more details. A turn off auto grant.
I upgrade it once, with a few points.
(Genie's Lamp: Selected Person's wishes can come true if they either don't know about who grants it, or if they ask directly, they enslave user upon discovering user has this, and know it's description. Can release at any time, but any three wishes will be performed. That can be typed in, so that it may be described in length, I.E a Death Star, and A 10 times more effective Death Star. One wish, per time, "enslaved.")
"Hey, Serisa, if the game could grant you one thing, what would it be?" I ask.
"A suit of Ego-Armor." She says, simply.
"Hey hey, guess who gets a single request filled, oh boy, oh dear me, it's, a suit of ego armor, tuned for his girlfriend! Guess who gets an extra request!" The AI says, reappearing, doing a wacky voice.
"Well, If that means you'll grant my wish, I'd like his wish to come true." I say, pointing at Noct.
"You don't get that opportunity back." He says, all of a sudden, serious.
"Because of how game breaking it could've been, like my Allies having a times ten EXP multiplier?" I ask, grinning.
He stares, further.
"One skill. Now. Make one up." He says.
"Skill Deflection, Deflects Skills targeting user and flings it at the near living being that isn't the user." I say Nonchalantly.
(Gained.)
"Again."
"Skill Tweaking, Once a day, temporarily add or remove specifications on Skills of users choice, activation instantaneously."
"Good Choice."
(Gained.)
"Last one." He says, seriously.
"Divine Armor Manifestation, performs a mimicry of a divine armor that exists, down to stats and abilities, at random, when the user chooses during combat, and allows for the Ability to steal a Divine Armors Skill in exchange with the skill of the targets armor becoming a permanent skill that player may use." I say, thinking as I speak.
"Ooh, too bad, too sad, too overpowered this soon. Betting abilities kid?" He asks, pulling out a coin.
"Skill Deflection, Insulation, ShadowBind, and ShadowBlade, Genies Lamp." I say.
"Oh shit." Serisa says, looking at me.
"Heads or Tails." He says, handing the coin to Serisa, and she goes to flip it.
"Tails." I say, and it flips into the air, and lands beautifully on her palm heads up, which she goes immediately to put it on the back of her hand like you would, with it on tails.
"Good job, you have a smart girlfriend. You both gained a Legendary Skill called Skill Share, you can share abilities with others, of your choice, if the other person shares one with you, of their choice, of EQUAL rarity. This skill cannot be shared. Have fun, Happy Launch Day." He says, and gets back to the party.
Serisa kisses me immediately. She doesn't stop for a few minutes, pinning me down.
"I have Rares, what do you have?" She asks me.
"Um, I was going to bet some more. I'm glad I got to keep my stuff, but I want some magic type stuff." I say, out loud.
(Launch Exclusive, Pick a Filter to roll from, give 1 skill of same FilterCopy! Magic skills could be higher rarities! When you reach level 100, you can perform this for free on the skills you select to risk.)
"Oh, I'll gamble then, for small ones. 3 Epic skills, Ignite/Freeze, Insulate, And Volume." I say, risking my most precious ones class wise.
"Shit." Serisa says, pouting.
"Serisa, to catch you up with you're boyfriend, you get a divine skill if you would like, but you can't get another if you chose this now." The guy says, and she thinks.
"Sure, I'll take a random Unique Divine Skill." She says.
"Fine." The AI says, Snapping.
"Glad I'm getting cheaper models." I hear the AI dude mutter. Wait. Oh, wait, is the game an android?
"Sacky, get over here." She says, pulling me over.
"I can get a free random skill a day. Every day. EVERY. DAY. RANDOM." She says, glad she's here.
I smile for her, and think about mine.
"I bet that legendary skill you gave me." I say.
"Now we're talking." He says, grinning.
"Um... I'D LIKE A BETTER ONE!" Serisa shouts, sitting down at the table for Black Jack.
"Okay. You could just get less skills. You could gamble for 20 Epic Skills, young lady." He says. She basically hands him the deck.
"I'll take a Divine skill." She says.
"You mean, ten, right? Unique's - wait, Sacky, sorry..." He says, and I get sent a BONUS!
(Unique Epic Skill: Magical Amplifier, anything you touch has it's magical power tripled, takes effect on objects and people once per person or object.)
I touch him, and he glows, and my mana overshoots my max. I send all my excess energy into Noct, who, darkens rapidly.
(ShadowFiend, leveled up into Shadow Demon.)
"Shit, sorry. Well, freebie. Nice thinking. Overclocked my mana regen." He says, grinning.
I stare. I flip my cards over, and I have a 2 and a 8.
Serisa has a 6 and a Ace. He has a 10 and a 6.
I take the hit, and I get an Ace.
(Legendary Skill, Spacial House.)
(Marry her, Dumbass. Figured I'd help couples tonight. Lucky them.) The System prompts. I nod.
Me and Serisa stop betting things, But I eventually ask him to roll genie for another Level 2 Epic, and he reluctantly gave me something that grew plants to the point of harvest.
After the celebration ended which lasted a good few hours, everyone had stopped betting.
"Can there be a general skill shop, that has uses that increase price based off need?" I say, tired, as a suggestion, after throwing out ideas for a few hours.
"Sounds fine. I'm worries about balance..." He says, and I think on that.
"Let some lucky players get one really powerfull skill each, and have them be kings. If they don't like ruling, have them have someone they know do it, and give them a overpowered thing. I'm not a leader, I'd be a soldier for a more powerful being." I say, tired.
He thinks on that idea for a few moments.
"I'd like to be dropped off near a nice town, Serisa?" I ask her.
"I want to test out Copy Paste Casting..." She says, nervously, and the AI shouts "Have a good night everyone!" and snaps, and a pop rings out, and I'm facing a town, and it's night.
Well, I guess I'm out. Hope James will be fine.
I walk into a inn.
"Hey, sorry, can I get a bed, I can help out tomorrow..." I say, turning toward the bar worker.
"Um, I'll talk to the chef." He says, and walks towards the back.
I turn on Genie Lamp's auto grant, as I'm bored.
I look over at a begger NPC in the street, and an Immense power surges when I select him. I don't see him anymore. Okay then.
(Released from Enslavement.)
"Oh, powerful." I say, and no one seems to notice.
I look at a child, walking alongside their mother. I select them, and a man appears, behind them.
I look away, panicked, and ignore the mothers scream when the daughter notices, and the man stares at the woman. Wait, how did I know?
Anyway, don't dick around.
I think on what to do.
'Noct, can you see about assassin guilds?' I ask.
'I can search.' He says, and he shrinks down, and I think its a small worm shadow now. It darts off, and I rest.
In the morning, when i'm eating what the chef forces me to because I said it'd been days.
I take this opportunity to help serve if I could get at least two meals worth per meal, which was looked down on until I realized i needed a lot to stay full. How did my body view me eating but not actually eating?
I overhear some dudes at a table talking about how some players got special treatment. I walk up to them, and I use Ignite on the shit talkers chair.
"You just had to have better grades, dumbass." I say, and a bolt of electricity, albeit small, jolt me from one of them.
"Don't make me use my full power." He says, laughing.
"I just blew your char up from the atomic level, really?" I say, and they turn white.
"Oh.... Okay, well, don't make me use my Legendary." The dude who talked shit says. I use Skill Share to give them both Shadow Demon.
"Stop talking shit, pay up." I say, pissed. They have to match its worth, right?
"Um... Shit. I can't pay for that..." One says, bowing.
"Um, I can make that jolt increase by about 7 times with all of my mana, there's information..." The other says, also bowing.
"Guys, calm down. It's still launch day, there's an exclusive, remember? If you have a low level skill you can replace it with either the same type, or a different skill of the same rarity." I blurt, and that makes it worse.
"DLC?" One says, panicked.
"I got base game." I say, and he calms down.
"Okay, boys, I'll just cancel it, Um, here." I say, and I share Shadow Bind
"Cool!" the one who's chair blew up.
Meanwhile people are standing around, shocked.
"There's bandits, and you're standing here?" A person from the crowd asks me.
'Noct?' I call.
'Yes?' He says, from the distance.
'Bandit Cleanup please.' I ask kindly.
'Fine.' He says. 'Permission to use skills?' He asks.
'Yes, use as necessary.' I request, and he sighs.
'Sir.' He calls.
'Drop that.' I say.
'Master.' He says, jokingly.
"Okay, anyway, these guys and I are heading up to the room, please don't disturb us." I call.
I lead the guys into my room, where they pull out swords.
I tap the both of their blades, using Ignite, and the dust flies outward, causing a smokescreen. I hid in the shadow, so I'll probably be under the bed.
I jump out the window, and drop into someone's shadow, fast. I wait until we are in the crowd, and I hop out.
'Noct, you there?' I call.
'Returning.' He calls back, and I can tell he's coming from behind. How?
CoC: EXP
I feel everything tingle, and I feel more sensitive.
I use 3 of the 12 Skill Points I have left to upgrade Concept Of Choices again.
(Gained Unique Epic: Provision of Choices. Allows for Double Targeting, and both are reduced to 500% boost. Has the same range of choice as before, to potentially open new windows for new abilities.)
Ah, like two things.
(Yes.)
"Great." I say, and I smile. I use Volume to turn myself down, and I use PC to increase Defense, and Physical.
I feel a massive boost, and my scales that are barely there spread slightly.
I walk around town, looking for a place to set up shop, and by the end of the day, I still have no money. I walk into the Blacksmith's, and expect a no.
"Kid, get yer ass n here." I hear the owner say, facing me, with a bottle in hand.
"Get me another beer, aye'll give yer a job." He says, in a scruffy voice.
He tosses me a silver, and I'm on a fetch quest.
I hear gossip about the two dudes and the room, but I laugh it off, and head off to deliver the beer.
"Kid, I don't think that's yours." I hear from behind me.
"I'm an Elf, I'm probably older then you think." I say turning, and a guy stabs at my stomach.
It scratches me, bouncing off.
The guy stares at me and whimpers. PC: Force Exerted, Strength, Uppercut Edition.
I send him about ten feet off the ground. Everyone steps back, seeing where the hole was cut.
He lands on his knife, and a scream flies out.
"He stabbed me." I say, quickly.
"No ones arguing there." I hear from a kid nearby.
"Sure went up. That's one way to die." I hear from the distance.
PC: Defense, Endurance
I look at my defense, which is crazy higher then it should be.
Someone comes over, looks down at the poor dude who I punched, and at me.
"Come with me peacefully, and I'll guarantee your safety." She says, and I nod.