Chereads / The Systems Challenge / Chapter 3 - Equipment

Chapter 3 - Equipment

Elmo was conflicted. He knew what size clothing to get himself, but couldn't think of what sizes to get those whose team he was on now. He also wasn't sure about how some of the clothing looked, such as if Kim would make him a smear on the floor with how revealing some of these outfits were.

He'd already gotten a few days worth of food, but if nothing else, he'd like to wear more than just a loincloth around. In addition, he was pretty sure Elin would like to wear more than that robe as well. He couldn't be sure about Kim, but if he remembered what her system was, then she would probably want more than a dress to wear.

In the end, he got a few different sizes of outfits for the girls, just to be on the safe side. Although, he couldn't help but get a few that were rather revealing, given the lack of options. He hoped whatever armor Kim acquired would compensate for that.

When he returned to where Elin was waiting, he was a little surprised to see that Kim hadn't returned yet. He could have sworn he'd taken longer than he really should have getting his portion of supplies.

"I looked at the tutorial and you probably should too. It wouldn't tell me what differences between the systems, so I can't say how different yours is from mine," Elin said before he could say anything.

Not what he was thinking about, but good to know.

"Any idea where Kim is?" Elmo asked.

Elin shook her head. "I just finished with my tutorial a minute ago. No one's come by since."

"Well, here's what I got," Elmo said, pulling the clothing he had gotten for her, even though he wasn't sure how well it'd fit her.

"Um, why didn't you get any skirts?" Elin asked, sounding like she couldn't wear anything but skirts.

"Actually, that was all that was available," Elmo replied. All that was available was various styles of clothing, but all of it looked like bucksin leather. The kind of leather he always thought of the mountain men from the 1800's wearing. Not the kind he was used to seeing in stores on jackets, furniture, or car seats.

"Oh," Elin replied, picking up a pair of pants as if it was hazardous to her health. "I guess I could try it."

"If you go into that room, I'll make sure no one comes by to look while you put something on under your robe," Elmo offered.

"Was there anything else with the clothing?" Elin asked. "Like… um… underwear?" The last word was said in almost a whisper.

Elmo smiled apologetically. "Sorry, this was all they had. The only other options were more revealing than this stuff."

"Alright, but please don't peek."

Elmo nodded and turned his back to the room, after making sure no one was close enough to have snuck in for any reason before settiling in to keep watch.

Kim sighed as she weighed the option of two swords. One was a longsword while the other was a bastard sword. Both were good options in her opinion, only she knew the bastard sword worked better with two hands, though it could be wielded with just one hand due to it's increased longer length and reach.

She wanted to be able to wear a shield, mostly because she was considering it better to have better defense at the moment than offense. Partially because she didn't know what to expect and partly because she had a hunch the two she'd already agreed to team up with were mages. She didn't know what kind of mages, but that didn't really concern her.

Sighing, she took the bastard sword and put the longsword back. She hadn't been browsing long, but it felt like she was taking longer than she should be taking.

Sighing again, she looked at the armor and shields. Feeling an option overload, she moved to the side to deal with it in her mind. Maybe if she looked at her statistics she'd be able to figure out what she should select. Though, she probably would just get a staff of some sort for her two team members.

Part of her mind, however, was still on how she'd been working on a job and had just made it through the security system twice without setting it off or any of the guards noticing. Parts of it were a little challenging, but overall it was much easier than she'd anticipated. Then suddenly she was waking up here. In a way she wished the system would have noticed her disappearing, but partly she wonders if they'd assume she just didn't show up or something. She just couldn't stop thinking about it in the back of her mind.

"Status," she said quietly, not wanting attention drawn to her.

HP 64/64

Stamina 29/29

Level 1

EXP 0/100

Str 17

Dex 19

Vit 17

Con 15

Int 14

Wis 10

Agi 16

Endurance 17

Physical Resistance 15%

Magical Resistance 5%

Skills:

Weapon Proficiency (Please select a weapon) 0/100

Shield Proficiency 0/100

Armor Proficiency (Please select a armor type) 0/100

Metal/Stone/Wood Expertise 0/100

Unarmed Combat 0/75

Abilities:

Shield Bash – 4 stamina 0/100

Charge – 3 stamina/10 feet 0/100

Reversal Cut – 7 stamina 0/100

Iai Cut -10 stamina 0/100

You have 5 attribute points to allocate. Would you like to place them?

Kim examined what she was seeing on the screen that appeared in the air in front of her. What some of this meant to her she wasn't sure. However, one thing she could be certain of was that a lot of this information wouldn't be available to the mages. She remembered that the announcer who introduced them one at a time did state that they wouldn't be able to see the stats of other 'participants,' so she suspected that information about her skills wouldn't be the same as the mages.

"Tutorial," Kim sighed.

A cheerful voice said inside her head, making her even more annoyed with this whole situation.

"Please explain what I'm seeing with my basic stats," Kim said, wishing she could just read this information rather than having to listen to it.

Kim waited a minute longer after the voice stopped speaking in her mind before deciding it was done with its explanation.

"Would you have any recommendations about how I should allocate my attribute points?" Kim asked, wondering if she might be able to glean any additional information from that.

Kim shook her head in annoyance when it was clear the system wouldn't give her any suggestions. So, in the end, she added 2 points to her Str and 3 to her Agi. Which actually raised her HP to 71.

"Would you have any suggestions of what equipment I should choose?" she asked, hoping that maybe it would give her something that would let her save a lot of her time in this..

"Piece of…" Kim muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, the system is a real pain in the ass, right?" a teenage girl commented as she swung a staff, apparently testing it to see if it appealed to her. "It's almost like it's just there to tell you enough to make you want to use the abilities you get from the system on the system itself."

Kim smiled at that image as she checked the girl out. She definitely could be her type. "Need a group to join?" Kim asked. She may have Elin right now, but she wouldn't mind another girl on their team. It might even increase her chances of getting with one of them.

"Sorry, I already agreed to join Stanley's group. He's clearly the best choice of anyone," the girl replied. Though, the way she said it, made Kim think something was off about it. Almost like she was reciting a line or like she was programmed to say that.

"Are you looking for others to join you?" a man asked from behind her.

Mentally wincing, she turned to see who it was. She was only partially intrigued when she was it was Jonas. The fact she remembered what his name was when it was announced and he came out of his room interested her most about him. Normally she couldn't be bothered to remember the name of a man unless she was already working with them.

"I guess you could say that," Kim replied, not sure if she really wanted this Jonas to join.

"What's your name?" Jonas asked. "You already had been announce when I came out of my room."

Kim didn't need that explanation, but didn't remark about it. She just put a mark against him for that. "Kim O'Hare," Kim replied.

"Would you like me to join?" Jonas asked. "Might be good to have someone who can fight at your back."

He had a good point, so she had no choice but to put a mark in his favor for that. Though, she also added another given his eyes weren't wandering her body or undressing her. In all, she found that she was starting to like Jonas, despite herself.

"Sure, I actually have two others in my group right now. I'm just getting some weapons and armor for the group while they're acquiring other things as well," Kim replied.

"Aren't you afraid I'll betray you to others?" Jonas asked.

Kim laughed. This guy was good with jokes. "To who? Anyone here can see what any of us are doing and it's not like we're fighting each other. I'm sure whatever competition this is, we'll be fine regardless of what they throw in here," Kim replied, sounding more confident in her statement than she actually felt.

"Sounds good," Jonas said. "Need any help selecting weapons?"

"Sure, I'm just not sure exactly what to get," Kim said.

"Well, that sword you picked is good, but you should also get a shorter weapon in case you have to fight where there's not enough room to swing it. Also a ranged weapon might be good to have as well," Jonas remarked, ticking his fingers like he was running down a list.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, a little wary.

"Well, if we have to go through a passage that's, say five feet high and two feet wide, the sword you have now wouldn't be as effective as say a short sword or dagger. Then a ranged weapon can help you attack either in a battle of attrition or to damage your enemy while they're taking time to get to you," Jonas replied, checking various weapons.

"That makes sense," Kim admitted, marking another point in Jonas' favor.

"So, have I passed your test?" Jonas asked.

"What test?"

"To join your team, of course."

"Yeah, I'd pretty much decided you could join a minute ago," Kim said, taking a short sword from Jonas.

"You didn't say anything."

"I didn't feel like saying it right then. I still needed to get equipment after all."

Jonas sighed, sounding rather amused. "Doesn't matter to me anyway. I already got my equipment. I thin once I join a party I'll be good to go."

"What about the rest of your team?" Kim asked. "You might be ready to go, but would they be ready?"

"If they're not, I'll help them get ready. Not much to do here in the regards."

Kim shook her head. "Maybe not, but I'd say we should also get an idea of who the other participants are. We don't need ones that'll try to knock off the competition coming up behind us."

Jonas was shaking his head. "Even if they leave before us, there's not telling if they won't end up behind us anyway. I mean, the announcement was that the first stage would be a dungeon crawl. You know what that means, right?"

Kim shook her head. She never had time for whatever a dungeon crawl was about. "Sorry, been too busy working than learning about whatever the hell a dungeon crawl is."

"Well, let me tell you what it is then."