Looking at the "Status" window again, I saw that the number next to the "Strength" parameter had increased by four units, meaning it now showed "Strength: 24", and next to it was written: [+4] {+20%}, while the damage reduction percentage became forty-five units. Mana remaining was: [69/100]. One point was missing initially, so it's logical to assume it went to healing, and there's no need to assume - I now "remember" that for relatively long-term buffs, the cost of a one-time spell is minimal. Buffs, by the way, also need to be maintained, so they'll slowly eat away at the reserve if you don't interrupt the feeding yourself.
Only something wasn't loaded quite right. Yes, I quite knew the theoretical difference in energy consumption, but it was precisely theoretical and sensory understanding, literally "by eye," and no mana units were mentioned in my knowledge of magic itself. And there was also absolutely no mention of the meaning of other characteristics. Let's say what "Strength" means and how it's expressed purely practically can be guessed, but with "Agility" it's already more difficult. What does it control in the body? How is it expressed? Is it movement speed? Critical hit chance? Dodge? What?..
No answers.
"System, this isn't funny!" I address the window aloud again. "You've already stuffed a bunch of knowledge into me! Give me proper help information about characteristics! Hear me? Help! Hint! Description!" Either they took pity on me, or I finally tuned in the right way, but under the "Agility" parameter, an additional "popup window" with text expanded.
[Agility — conventional name for the combination of reaction speed, movement coordination, and ability to learn any actions based on precise motor skills.]
"Thanks..." I muttered a couple of tones lower, reading the text.
This was something unusual. As a person whose childhood coincided with the heyday of computer games, I loved them and therefore had many variants of purely "game" systems in memory, starting from "classic D&D 3.5", ending with how everything worked in various "Allods" and "Fallouts". And in each system, while the "main role" of a characteristic was obvious, it wasn't necessarily limited to just that. For example, I remember there was an edition where Strength was used to calculate the chance of parrying/blocking an enemy's strike. And the same Agility was responsible not only for movement speed (number of turns) but also for critical hit chance. However, here, apparently, there was nothing like that. Reaction speed is speed, of course, but clearly not the kind that allows you to make twenty strikes while an enemy makes one. However, even such information was extremely useful. Let's try to learn more...
As an experiment, I simply moved my gaze slightly higher and concentrated on the desire to learn details about the Strength parameter. For a couple of seconds nothing happened, and I was beginning to suspect that I would constantly have to beg the System, but when I had already decided to speak again, having first simply repeated to myself "help, hint, description" to start voicing them, the help finally popped up.
[Strength — conventional name for the combination of physical parameters. Affects the durability of muscle fibers, skin cover, internal organs, bones, tendons, and ability to endure strain. Does not affect the life force of the organism and ability to regenerate.]
"Oh, I see..." not that I felt an urgent need to speak aloud, especially after just getting clear proof that the System can hear me perfectly well with my mouth shut, but it was definitely easier on the nerves this way.
So, Strength here is not just strength, but also something like a "natural armor modifier," which at the same time doesn't affect the amount of health points and, apparently, its restoration... Okay. What's next?
[Vitality — conventional name for the combination of parameters responsible for the ability to stay alive: volume of life force, regeneration speed, resistance to diseases, poisons and toxins, as well as hostile environmental conditions.]
However suspicious, this was logical. If only I knew: are ten units a lot or not? How much is normal for an ordinary person? And an extraordinary one? And how much should a good paladin have to not die from a blade in the side, organized by some robber? Can I get a table with gradation and examples in pictures? No? Not at all? Please — this is necessary, this is important, this is what my life depends on! System? Hey System, hey! Well, damn...
Silence was my answer, and no attempts to find the right wording and focus on the desired wish helped... Okay, I'll think about that later. Moving my gaze lower and concentrating exactly as it worked already twice...
[Perception — conventional name for the total efficiency of sensory organs and ability to correctly interpret their signals. Affects the ability to perceive magical energy, notice traps, ambushes and hidden creatures, determine malicious intentions, vulnerable spots in enemy defenses and the nature of abilities they are going to use. Does not affect personal perception of smells, brightness of lighting, tastes, skin sensitivity and loudness of heard sounds.]
Is this like sensorics or the legendary for the "Gamer setting" Appraisal, just on stats? Hmm... I don't know, but the properties and purpose seem clear. And it's also clear that you need to concentrate on the word "description," and project not so much the desire to know, but intention. It was difficult to express, but there was a difference here like between wanting to take a glass and extending the hand with which you take the glass. That is, when you extend your hand, you may not think about desires at all, but you will have the intention to do a specific thing. So here it was required to catch exactly such a state when thoughts are directed not at thinking about the desire to do something, but at the action itself. A very... subtle state.
But okay, now the last but most interesting, in my opinion:
[Magic — conventional name for the combination of magical energy volume and ability to use it.]
Um... So everything in one pile? And what about "reserve volume," "spell power," "cast speed"... well, I don't know... "predisposition to magic school" or "mana regeneration speed"? What does this mean, there's magic, but no characteristics allowing you to choose what kind of sorcerer you'll be? That is, making variants like "you hit powerfully but have little mana" or "lots of mana but you hit weakly but quickly" is completely impossible? Everything only uniformly and in one piece?
The stream of my questions again remained unanswered — the System was silent. Well, okay. If not then not. Means in the real world... as real as it is, everything works not the way fantasists and game developers thought. Wonderful, I'm ready to live with this, okay... If only I had a choice...
So, what can be said in summary? Well, all stats seem clear, if, of course, their description is honest and without hidden meanings/ways of reading, but why would the System need this? It could just as well not answer the request at all. The only increasingly eye-catching unclear thing is the absence of an experience bar on the Status icon. In the sense that if I have a level and it has a numerical value, then it's logical to assume that it can increase. Considering that I'm in some, um... fantasy, probably medieval, because why would they dress me in armor if not? In short, considering this and the fact that I was given a level at all, plus equipped with a beast of a two-handed sword, there's a possibility that I'm supposed to kill someone and thus raise this level. The question is "where?", where, actually, is the criterion? How much experience do I have? How much do I need for the next level? And who, actually, am I supposed to kill? Where's the message with the general task?
"At least give me a hint!" addressing the window, I spoke again. "You understand me, look, you even write in Russian letters! What's the main quest? What am I supposed to do at all? Hello! Come in, System! Why am I here? For what? What's the point of all this movement?!"
No reaction. At all. Not even a small window with a sarcastic answer, as is proper in the darkest fantasies of stoned authors of such stories, popped up.
I wanted to spit, but upbringing didn't allow it. What to do in such initial conditions was decisively unclear. They clearly weren't going to enlighten me and communicate the purpose of all the expenses incurred for the operation with soul relocation and creation of new bodies. And from this, I must say, the mood really didn't improve at all. However, one could flutter in hysteria for a long time, but the benefit from this was zero. From this perspective, it was better to poke around in what had already started to work. In particular, in the definitions from the table.
Fortunately, the feature with calling up descriptions continued to work, only not nearly as well as one would like. Thus I learned that the "Health" parameter in the status window is the volume of life energy. That's all. No details. Class is a parameter determining available skills and direction of development. Paladin is a warrior using Light magic. High Elf is a representative of the High Elves race. And "Level" is an indicator of development. I even got the impression that, having tried hard in explaining the meaning of characteristics to a "noob", the System switched to laconic mode, like: "you're annoying, go away."
But I didn't go away and gradually moved on to the armor icons, for which I was partially rewarded with a whole series of almost identical descriptions, where only a few words changed. In particular, for the helmet, the description window looked like:
──────────────
[Bloody Conqueror of Light Helmet]
Class: E
Type: Equipment Item
──────────────
Pseudo-material artifact, being a continuation of the soul.
In materialized form state protects the head
corresponding to a high-quality steel helmet.
──────────────
Effects: Head protection according to material strength.
Reduction of all received damage by 6%.
Transition to spiritual state at wearer's will.
──────────────
Can be improved by absorbing magical essence
from a material artifact of higher quality.
The artifact used as a donor in the process
is destroyed. Identical effects during improvement
do not stack — the better one is chosen.
Can be restored when damaged using mana.
──────────────
For the sword and dagger everything was exactly the same, except for the damage reduction, while for the cloak and belt exactly the same, only they reduced only two percent instead of six. In the end, if I understood everything correctly, if an artifact with some effect like "+100500 Strength" falls into my hands, I can transfer this effect to my "spiritual armor". The question is how common artifacts are here at all, although even so dispelling and materializing the same gloves turned out to be quite a convenient action. For this, as with calling up descriptions, it was required to concentrate on the intention to transfer them to a spiritual state. Desire, command, or fantasies about how it happens were useless here, what was required specifically and only was that feeling when you, without thinking about how to control the same hand, reach with it for a paper from the table, clearly and unambiguously intending to take it in your hands. To be honest, even when I caught the trick, catching such a state of mind is very difficult, but "difficult" doesn't mean "impossible", so although not immediately, but the desired effect was achieved. With this, the toilet problem could be considered partially solved... ahem, not important.