《Star System Book 1: Iron Will ( Apocalyptic litrpg)》 Prologue I sat at the top of my bunk, staring at the ceiling there was nothing else to do, but sit and wait. My cellmate - Brandon - was talking to me. I didn¡¯t pay attention he was always yammering on about something that happened at lunch or the yard or on tv. I sighed and looked at the pictures on the wall, my sister Jess and my boy Junior. A tear ran down my face as I looked at them, so I quickly turned back staring at the ceiling. ¡°Hey, John you listening to me¡± Brandon yelled up to me. ¡°Yeah Brandon, of course, I''m listening,¡± I said humouring him. ¡°Yeah so what do you think, is it real or fake?¡± Brandon asked. ¡°Huh what are you talking about,¡± I asked completely confused Brandon didn¡¯t usually ask me questions about whatever topic he decided was noteworthy that day. ¡°The aliens, man, You think its real or is it April first, and no one told us?¡± Brandon asked with his stupid voice. ¡°What are you on about what aliens?¡± I asked getting angry I know I shouldn¡¯t because I wasn¡¯t paying attention, but Brandon was getting on my nerves today. ¡°You weren''t listening were you. Dammit, do you ever listen?¡± Brandon accused I didn¡¯t reply because he knew the answer ¡°fine ill go over it again. So, me and Jimbo were sitting in the lounge when an emergency broadcast played saying an alien spacecraft is orbiting the moon,¡± Brando explained. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°And you want me to tell you if it¡¯s real or fake.¡± ¡°Yeah, you got a head for this stuff, like about the Mexicans and that biker gang about to have it on in the yard last month. No one knew what was about to happen and then all of a sudden there was a riot and the guards came charging in a minute later.¡± Brandon said. ¡°And?¡± I asked my anger seeping into the word. ¡°And Where were you, in the safest spot to be, moping the toilets hell you don¡¯t even get that detail unless you requested it¡± he answered. ¡°Just a coincidence,¡± I assured him ¡°but if you want my opinion about aliens it''s this. it''s not April, so it''s probably true.¡± ¡°So what you think their here for?¡± Brandon asked. "I don''t know, hell if its anything like the movies it would be something stupid," I said thinking about all those sci-fi movies that had the aliens, coming for water or the core of the earth, or to experiment on humans. I mean what are you going to do with the core of a planet. "Lights out Inmates" the guard - Toby - called out. "night John," Brandon said "night bud" I replied. my dreams were filled with a sense of foreboding and hope, along with the usual screams for help and that scumbags face. Chapter 1 I stood staring at the electrified fence, it had been two weeks since the appearance of our intergalactic guest, and there was still no contact from the ship. I don''t know why I was at the south corner of the yard; Any normal day would see me sitting watching the basketball game. But today the south edge just felt the perfect place to spend the hour I had for yard time. "what''s wrong inmate 0645." a guard asked as he came to a stop in front of me just on the other side of the fence. I caught a look at his face, he was an older gentleman a guard I hadn''t seen before, probably late 40''s salt an pepper hair and beard framed a leather-like face. I checked his name tag before I responded. "nothing is the matter office, Hubbert, Just watching the world today," I said, something was wrong, but I wasn''t sure what and it seemed better to say nothing was wrong then ''I don''t know, but something doesn''t feel right.''. "very well 0645 you have 20 minutes left." officer Hubbert said as he continued on his march. Five minutes later he was rounding the north corner, and that''s when it happens, the world changed.
System Message
A new world has become apart of the Star System
Congratulations planet: Earth the galactic Foundation welcomes you to the way of the universe the Star System, due to the Forced nature of your adoption into the Star System earth is now ruled by Titus Ranavon and designated Earth as combat entertainment planet, the planet formal known as Earth will be now called The Titus Challenge it will be broadcast live across the Star System so smile your on TV.
Attention
You are a convicted criminal of the Former Earth nation of America, Earth¡¯s new ruling governor has Sentence all Convicted Criminals to a server as monsters, The system has processed your case of Assault and attempted murder and found you Not Guilty you will not be changed into a feral beast like the other Inmates, Also as you are starting in a cage with monsters you have been awarded an extra starting skill point.
I blinked as I read the messages. They just floated there hanging translucent boxes. ¡°Not guilty¡± I whispered to myself. There was a loud clunk sound, and the spinning lights on top of the fence went dull. ¡°Powers out¡±I mumbled. Then a new box appeared in front of me, and the world around me turned grey, my body froze up I couldn¡¯t move. Nothing was moving; the trees were locked in mid-sway a small rabbit hovered in mid-jump, time froze.
John Woods
Strength 15 Class ???
Agility 12 Health 60 60
Intelligence 10 Stamina 30 30
SpiritStolen story; please report. 5 Mana 10 10
Charisma 13 Unspent AP 5
Luck ?? Unspent SP 3
You have unspent Attribute and Skill Points. Do you wish to spend these Points?
Yes/No
I stared at the boxes and then reached you with my hand and hit yes. First was the attribute points, a plus sign appeared next to each of the six attributes, strength, agility, intelligence, spirit, charisma and luck. Not knowing what I was doing I put 3 points into Strength and 1 point into agility and intelligence. I notice my Unspent AP drop to 0 and my health stamina and mana rose, health rose by 30 points, and my Stamina and mana rose by 10 points each. I still had no idea what all this meant, but I didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it as a massive list of skills flooded my view. I stared blankly at it for a good 5 minutes, until I noticed a timer in the top right corner of my vision, it was counting down, I only had 3 minutes remaining, was that when the world unfroze was it till I lost my unspent skill points or would it lock out my choice for a while. I had no idea, but I decided to hurry and choose something before the timer ran out. I shook my head or at least tried to my head didn¡¯t move, but it allowed me to focus anyway. I knew monsters were going to start appearing everywhere around me, so I need a way to defend myself, thinking of combat the list filtered to combat-oriented skills, Sword skills, mace skills, magic powers and a slew of others. I settled on one called Iron Will; it was a hand to hand combat skill. Since I didn''t have a weapon anything to power up my fist would be ideal, I only skimmed the details of the skill it said my spirit would increase the damage of my unarmed strikes, it had a lot of text, and that''s where I stopped reading. The next thing I thought about was speed I would need to run away, not only the monsters would probably chase me but I''m sure the guards would too. The list filtered to movement based skills and I noticed that all the magic based skills were greyed out like flight and teleportation, but I did find one called Leap, which used my stamina to allow me to jump further or higher depending on if I was moving or standing still. And lastly, I thought about that class section and classes appeared in the list again all the magic classes like mage where greyed out, some others were greyed out, and they all said prerequisites not met. I filled the list for unarmed combat classes and found 4, The Drunk Brawler, The Monk, Arcane Boxer, which was greyed out and lastly Opportunist. I read the brawler the monk and the opportunist, The brawler had some bonus that only applied when intoxicated, the monk would make me a mute, but it allowed my spirit to do elemental damage. The Opportunist was odd, it was about fighting with whatever you could, it was kind of like a jack of all trades master of none it has a severe downside, Weapons will break Twice as fast, but it would allow me to use any weapon or anything as a weapon, so I ended up taking that in the end. I looked at the timer 1 minute enough time to look at my character sheet again.
John Woods
Strength 18 Class Opportunist
Agility 13 Health 90 90
Intelligence 11 Stamina 40 40
Spirit 5 Mana 0 0
Charisma 13 Unspent AP 0
Luck ?? Unspent SP 0
Skills Iron Will, Leap
Something was wrong my mana was now 0 it was 20 before. I checked the opportunist class, nothing about me losing my mana but it did say all skills in the opportunist tree rely on stamina, so that was okay. Then I checked my other skills leap was just what it said; then I read Iron will.
Iron Will
Iron Will is the mastery of the spirit and unarmed combat. Your spirit score will be added onto all damage you do with your unarmed strikes. Raw spirit damage cannot be blocked or Resisted ¡ª however, one who uses their spirit this way blocks of the access to all magic. Due to the inability to use magic, magic does not affect you as much +30% to Magic Resistance.
¡°Ah, Fuck¡± I swore. Chapter 2 The world snapped back into colour, and everything went quiet, for about 2 minutes I stood there blinking as I watch the rabbit I saw hopping around transform into what I could only assume to be what someone with a phobia of rabbits saw. 6-foot tall Maggy fur red eyes razor sharp buck teeth and strong muscular legs, the poor rabbit cried in pain as its body rapidly changed, once everything was done text appeared above its head. [Hell Hopper, CR 2.] Then I heard the screams and howls filter in from behind me; I turned to see about a good 80% of the inmates hunched over in pain as their bodies morphed. I saw Brandon, who was standing over near the weights begin to grow fur and a wolf-like head and claws and a tail. [WereWolf, CR 6.] Another inmate started to melt into a puddle, his skin sloped of his body, and his muscles turned to jelly his bones cracked and formed a mohawk on the blob that was the inmate. [Blood Slime, CR 4.] I heard a scream, and my eyes darted to an inmate that was playing basketball, I caught a single glimpse of him as four werewolves launched themselves onto him and started to pull him apart and eat him. ¡°Oh, crap¡± I swore. I should have kept my mouth shut because as soon as the words left my mouth a creature, that appeared human without any facial features and long claws turned its head towards me. [Cave Lurker, CR 6.] It bounded towards me on all fours I raised my hands in boxer¡¯s pose, as soon as I ready myself for combat two bars appeared in my bottom left corner vision one red the other green, white mist spilled off my knuckles as raw power surged through my arms. The creature sped towards me, and then lept the last 20 yards; my right arm shot out catching the creature in its chest for what felt like a second nothing happened, and then the creature was tossed backwards. You hit the cave lurker for 13 damage (8 physical damage + 5 spirit damage). The cave lurker hunched over and I noticed the creature had gills that it was now coughing blood out of them. Not wasting the advantage I stepped up and using my right hand again I punched the creature in its faceless head. I didn¡¯t need to see the damage number this time to know what I did. Like overripe watermelon, the cave lurkers head exploded into bits of gore covering my face and staining my orange clothes red. Cave Lurker defeated +1 AP. I looked up to see that all the other innocent inmates were either trying to fight off the creatures or dead that''s when I saw something that shook me to my core. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Werewolf Alpha, CR 15.] The Alpha was 10 foot tall with Pitch black fur and golden eyes; I knew its eye colour because it was staring right at me. The alpha let out a sharp bark, the 20 or so werewolves in the yard turned to face me, I turned to see if they were looking at something behind me nope the Hell Hopper had hopped off and officer Hubbert was nowhere in sight. I decided to take a page out of the Hell Hopper¡¯s book and get the fuck out of there. I ran towards the fence line and leapt, I felt my energy leave my core and travel down to my legs. My feet left the dirt and I sailed over the two electrified fences and out of prison it wasn¡¯t till I was almost to the tree line then I realised my fatal mistake, I was moving fast, and I was high. I braced myself of impact tucking my legs up to my chest wrapping my arms around them and ducking my head, I hit the ground like a bowling ball and spun and bounced maybe a dozen times till I hit a tree. You Have taken 37 Points of damage. I lay on my back panting ¡°Damn, got to learn how to land¡± I puffed. My blood-soaked orange jumpsuit was now ripped in places, and covered in mud. Checking my pockets, I find a half packet of smokes a lighter, the picture from my cell, a pack of gum and a candy bar. I rip open the candy bar and munch on it; the nutty, caramel, chocolate bar helps some and the pain of the fall quickly fades. I pick myself up. I¡¯m about 10 miles to a small town it¡¯s the closet form of civilisation if you count a one street town civilisation. I start jogging, the crisp autumn air rushes past me as my feet crunch on pine needles and fallen twigs, I always liked jogging and I knew at the pace that I was going was above my average if I kept this going I would reach the town in under an hour. Coming across the stream that ran to the edge of town. I stopped to get a drink; I catch my reflection in the slow moving water. Short brown hair and blue eyes, some people would call me classically handsome with my strong jawline, I also notice that I was slightly more muscular as well. I don¡¯t know if that is because of my attributes increase or just the prison workout, however, I don¡¯t have time to ponder it as a see a bright light appear across the stream. Chapter 3 ¡°Whoo baby,¡± the alien says as he wipes the sweat off his brow. ¡°This planet is hotter than I thought.¡± I had ducked behind a rather large pine tree as I saw the silhouettes of 3 humanoid shapes appear in the light. After finding my hiding spot I got to see the three figures walk out, two men that are purple and built like the Rock, and female that could pass as human if not for the solid green eyes and the pointed ears. I instantly hated the men when I saw what the woman was wearing, thread bear clothes and chains on her arms legs they all converged onto a metal collar. The men, however, wore losing fitting clothing that reminded me of Aladdin, they were also armed with curved swords and a rifle of some kind. ¡°You think that the natives will be a good workforce for the mine,¡± the second alien said. ¡°I was informed. That we need to catch six to test that theory,¡± the sweaty one said a bit of bite to his tone. I had no idea how they could speak English, but I knew one thing, these men were some kind of slave catcher, and the woman was a slave herself. I saw the sweaty guy pull out some device and switch it on. ¡°looks like there is''s a town few miles up this creek. Hopefully, there will be some survivors.¡± I lean out to take a better look at the two men. The woman''s eyes lock onto mine it''s only for a fraction of a second, but she knows I''m here now. ¡°Okay will set up camp here give the system some time to adjust our bodies and then at nightfall we hunt,¡± the second said. I look to the sun; it would be about 4 hours till dark, plenty of time to warn the town about these guys. I start backing away ready to circle around them when I hear sweaty speak again. ¡°So who gets to break in the girl, the merchant said she''s ¡®Untouched¡¯¡± cold anger runs through my body, yup these guys don¡¯t get to live. I don¡¯t hear what''s said next and I don¡¯t care at this point there kidnappers and rapist the two kinds of people I hate the most, the scumbags face flashes in my mind, and my vision turns red. Skill Gained Vengeful Fury I don¡¯t read the message at all as I step out from behind the tree, the two aliens don¡¯t spot me as I walk to the creek bed, they do however turn towards me when my feet splash through the shallow water. ¡°Hey, Killa! it looks like we got the first catch of the day.¡± the second alien says as he sees me ¡°this job is going to be easy if they just walk up and surrender to us like this one.¡± I reach the other side of the shore my hands clenched into fists; I stop in my tracks eyes bloodshot a full of anger. The second guy walks towards me ¡°That''s right guy, we''re going to take you to a mine, you know what that is? Oh, it''s great you be fed and clothed, and they have fun gam-¡± the alien''s words come to a halt as my hand rushes forward and grips his throat. Only a gurgling sound as he tries to scream, his hands come up trying to pry my mine away. ¡°Goddammit Feli, I told you not to be stupid,¡± Killa says as he draws his rifle and aims at me, Feli struggles for breath and starts to claw and my arm. I leave my self exposed as Killa gets ready to fire, at the very last second Killa is shocked to find his friend Feli in the line of fire, the gun still goes off and beam of energy knocks Feli out cold. I grab Feli by the crotch heavy him overhead and toss the purple man at the other alien scumbag; they go down in a heap, and I''m instantly on top of both of them fist flying, punching holes in the two redneck aliens. Feli Hunt Defeated +2 AP +1 SP. Killa Hunt, First son Defeated +4 AP. I stand up blood-soaked and looking like death itself, looking down; I see a dagger in the side of my gut, how I did not feel that I don''t know. I look over to see the woman who is wide-eyed and shaking. ¡°Hey, its okay¡± i say I turned to approach her and trip on something the world starts to spin and the forest floor rapidly approaches, and the world fades to black. *** ¡°John¡± a woman''s voice calls me ¡°John where are you john¡±I look around i''m standing in my backyard in front of me is a barbeque with 3 steaks on it, in my hand is a pair of tongs and I''m wearing a apron that says ¡®may I suggest the sausage¡¯ ¡°Out the back¡± I call out, turning I see my sister coming out from the kitchen. She¡¯s spent the day with Junior, and I smile as I see she¡¯s spoilt him again. ¡°You know you can¡¯t just spend your money on my son right¡± she smiles back. ¡°Well what else is an aunt supposed to do,¡± she says placing a hand on her hip ¡°plus he is just too cute to say no to.¡± ¡°Dad, leave Aunt Jesse alone she likes spending money on me,¡± junior says as he takes a seat at the outdoor table. ¡°Plus it''s my birthday remember¡± it is his birthday, but that''s not right, this isn¡¯t how his last birthday went. I look around again and realise I''m back in Australia, why am I here. ¡°Everything okay mate?¡± Mick asks as he comes from a side gate with a carton of beer on his shoulder. Looking around Jesse and Junior is gone, and there''s snags on the barbie. ¡°No, its not whats going on?¡± i say looking at my best friend. ¡°Mate, you sure you okay, do you want me to call the doc,¡± he asks with worry in his eyes. The doc right, doctor Jimal, the grief expert. I look down to see my body covered in blood and a knife is sticking out of my side. I start to remember, this is the day mick and i find the bastard and buy plane tickets. ¡°Mick we can¡¯t go to america,¡± i say ¡°Sure we can, go over there buy a gun - not to hard in america - hunt down the bastard and go wolf creek on his ass,¡± mick says, with a laugh. ¡°No mick we can¡¯t go if we go to america we both end up in jail and he walks free,¡± i say tossing the tongs at a window. ¡°What you getting at, is this some kind of Final destination shit¡± mick ask as he pops the top of a beer ¡°you know you lived through it and now you know what happens.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know everything is wrong, this house the barbeque you,¡±I say looking around, i see the woman with green eyes standing there silently yelling at me. ¡°What, I can¡¯t hear you.¡± *** I awake to the sound of a crackling fire, slowly opening my eyes i see a canvas tent, and a message hanging in the air.
Fight Rewards
For defeating the Hunt Brothers of Omicre 5 thereby ending their family line, you have been awarded the following.
  • Deed to the Hunt estate and all items with in the estate
  • 2 stun rifles
  • 2 Scimitars of good quality
  • A Data pad (Tier 1 Dataworld Data terminal)
  • The slave ¡°Vira Lightword.¡±
  • An S class space jumper {currently impounded}
  • 14,678 Credits
  • Misc Clothing and Camping/Hunting supplies
  • The Title of ¡®Hunter of the Hunt¡¯
Mentally i close the notification, sitting up i find myself naked apart from a white bandage wrapped around my midsection, all semblance of the blood and mud been washed away as well. The tent is a simple ridge tent and the flaps are drawn open i see the night sky a crackling campfire and the green eyed woman cooking what appears to be a dog sized squirrel over the fire. She hasn¡¯t noticed im awake looking around the tent i see a canteen, unscrewing the top i take a sniff, not alcohol, taking a sip i''m happy to find it¡¯s just water and not some alien space drink. My parched throat is so happy to have the cool water running down it; it starts a coughing fit. After i manage to get that under control, i look up to see the woman staring at me, again wide eyed and scared. ¡°Hi¡± i croak out, ¡°did you um, bandage me up?¡± she gives me a small nod ¡°Thanks, wear are my clothes?¡±, the woman doesn¡¯t say anything just walks away out of view for a few seconds and then reappears with a bundle of my clothes, and hands them to me. ¡°Thanks¡± noticing she still in the chains i frown, ¡°let get dressed and then i¡¯ll get them chains off, Okay,¡± I say softly. She doesn¡¯t speak just nods and goes back to cooking. Getting dressed quickly and then stepping out of the tent i see that we haven''t moved but the bodies of the aliens have been dragged away and their has been put into a crate near the tent. I walk over to it, rummaging around I find nothing that looks like a key for her chains. ¡°Did they have anything to remove the collar?¡± i ask looking over my shoulder at the woman. She looks up from her cooking and nods again. ¡°Can you speak?¡± i ask, she nods and then shakes her head. ¡°If you can speak please speak,¡± i say. ¡°Thank you master, my collar and chains are keyed to the datapad¡± her voice is like honey, i blink staring at her in awe she has the voice of an angel. ¡°Master?¡± she says looking at me with a confused look. I rapidly realise i''ve been staring abit too hard. ¡°Ah sorry, just you have such a beautiful voice¡± my face turning red. I look away back to the items, grabbing the datapad, it a square thing with a screen as big as my hand and 2 short antena poking out the top. Tapping the screen it turns on, but that''s as far as i can get, of course, it wouldn¡¯t be set to english how was i meant to free the woman now. ¡°Can you read this?¡± i ask her as i give her the datapad, in exchange she gives me a plate of meat carved from the giant rodent, Heh, i''ve been eating prison food for the last 3 year i think as i take a small bite, its alright probably not going to replace a stake but it taste better than the ¡®steak¡¯ we got in prison.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Sorry master, it is written in the native Omicre language,¡± the woman says as she hands back the data pad i try to hand her her plate of meat back but she refuse to take it. ¡°No master i will eat after you,¡± she says. ¡°Okay look enough with the master stuff, my names John, and i don¡¯t plan on owning a slave¡± i say ¡°now you obviously hunted the big beast, and cooked it yourself, so it¡¯s your food!¡± i kinda yelled the last part, again trying to hand back the food. ¡°Yes Master,¡± she says taking the plate and starting to eat, tears start to well up. ¡°Shit, i''m sorry i didn¡¯t mean to yell, look as soon as we get this thing into english or whatever the soon as you can go,¡± I say trying to put her to ease. ¡°Please Master, don¡¯t sell me,¡± she says quietly flinching as she does. ¡°Huh? Sell you?, I''m not going to sell you im going to set you free¡± I say confused. She looks up wide eyed at me and slowly shuffles away from me ¡°No Master, Freedom is only possible viva one way¡± she says backing up again. ¡°And that is?¡± i ask confused as hell, why wouldn¡¯t she want to be free? ¡°Death¡± she whispers, ¡°I am a blood slave, master, these chains do nothing but restrict my magic and movement. I am bound into slavery by the system itself¡± ¡°Christ almighty?, so your a slave no matter what?¡± I ask ¡°also what makes you a slave.¡± ¡°Yes master, I am a slave for life. And what makes me a slave is simple, everything I own belongs to the master, I can¡¯t not hurt my master, and I have to do as order by the master.¡± ¡°Great,¡± i say solemnly ¡°okay well, then no more master just call me john,¡± i say softly ¡°also im not going to treat you as a slave, let''s say you have free will to do as you please.¡± ¡°Yes mas- John,¡± she says. ¡°So tell, what''s your name? And how can you speak english?¡± i ask ¡°Vira my names vira, and i''m not speaking english, it''s the system it translates all spoken languages into the listener''s native language¡± vira explains ¡°Okay, Vira it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you,¡± i say, offering my hand for a handshake but she just pushes another plate of meat into it. Fine i''ll eat the dinner she prepared it would be rude not to, wouldn¡¯t it? ¡°I''m going to probably zone out for a bit as i spend some points just bear with me for a second,¡± i say mental pulling up my character sheet.
John Woods
Strength 18 Class Opportunist
Agility 13 Health 90 90
Intelligence 11 Stamina 40 40
Spirit 5 Mana 0 0
Charisma 13 Unspent AP 7
Luck ?? Unspent SP 1
Skills Iron Will, Leap, Vengeful Fury
Not bad 7 attribute points a skill point and it seemed I unlocked a skill too, I pull up vengeful fury¡¯s information.
Vengeful Fury
Only those who seek Vengeance can achieve this feat. Vengeful Fury automatically activates, when the user wants vengeance. The user gains 2x Strength and Agility for the duration, however, the user will also receive 2x damage for the duration. Duration: Till target of Vengeance is Dead.
Okay, that is dangerous and powerful, so I was hitting those guys for what. I look back at my combat notifications, You hit the Feli Hunt for for 31 damage (26 physical damage + 5 spirit damage). I also hit them each about 10 times that''s at least 300 health. ¡°Wow¡± I whisper, I was fortunate that fight could have gone sideways fast. Whelp it didn¡¯t so onto spend some points, i take some time thinking of how to divide up my 7 ap Ii spend 2 to get strength to 20 then i spend the last 5 on the spirit to raise it to 10. That would mean my punches will do 20 damage each. Okay, skills, I had swords now but it seemed stupid to switch for what I had already invested in so I decided to look at the opportunist skills. Strangely the opportunist skill were set out differently instead of a list it was a tech-tree, with branching paths, starting from 4 different skills.
Cheap Shot
Cost: 20 Stamina Attack Deals 2x Damage if the target is not expecting the attack
That''s not meant to be used that way
Any non weapon you use as a weapon deals increased damage based on the material of the item.
What does this button do
You have an increase chance of hitting the right button on a piece of technology. You also have an increase chance to make the piece of technology unuseable. Does not affect technology that you know how to use.
Weapon Specialist (Opportunist)
A Weapon Specialist is better at one type of weapon then all others. when picking this skill, you also choose a type of weapon. all weapons of selected type will deal 1.5x damage. (Opportunist Variant) Only gets bonus damage if the weapon is of common quality or lower.
They all seem interesting but not right now. What i really needed was something to help me understand the data pad. After doing some quick searches a came across exactly what i was looking for, well i came across 2 skills that would work. The first was Techno Babble. This skill would allow me to understand ways to operate technology, it was set up in ranks which wasn¡¯t odd technically all skills had ranks i just didn¡¯t see them the first time. Each rank would allow me to understand a tier of technology there are ten tiers for each type of item the datapad was a tier 1 item so the first rank would allow me to figure out how to change the settings to english, the drawback is if it didn¡¯t have an english setting i would be screwed. The other skill i found was Cultural Awareness that skill would allow me to understand different cultures, it could be taken an unlimited amount of times but each time i would have to select a culture and i would learn about that culture, in bits and pieces, there where 3 ranks to each culture, first was written languages, common phrases and slang, next would move on to the social structures of the culture and then final the economic structures of a culture. Again the drawback was that it would be a waste of the skill point to learn about 1 alien culture that i might never meet again, i didn¡¯t know anything about the Omicre, they might be small or the might run the galaxy for all i knew, i need more information. ¡°vira , what do you know about the Omicre?¡± i ask the alien who was slowly falling asleep. ¡°Not much they only joined the system about 7 cycles ago, unlike this planet they were naturally adopted into the system, and thus far have sided with the Valnari in their military campaign against the Dalnari.¡± Vira explained. ¡°Okay, few more questions, how long is a cycle?, Naturally adopted? Who the hell are the Valnari and the Dalnari? And do you think we will run into more Omicron technology or words?¡± ¡°Oh sorry, john forgot your new to the system. A cycle is about 3 earth years, don''t ask me why that''s what it is. The system is ever growing and spreading when it reaches a planet it naturally adopts them slowly increasing the mana leves of the planet over a few hundred years, earth however was forced into the system by Lord Titus Ranavon of the Dalnari, so the rapid increase of mana will cause havoc on the world, that''s why your technology doesn¡¯t work overloaded everything the system did. The Dalnari and Valnari are a cruel race of aliens the livelong look like frogs and come in two colours the Dalnari are blue and the Valnari are red, and as far as i know, that''s why they hate each other. For your last quest no i don¡¯t think we will run into any more Omicre, my former masters had to sneak onto the planet because its in Dalnari space.¡± ¡°Okay techno babble it is¡± john mutter and selected the skill. He hit apply changes and a rush of energy coursed through his veins.
John Woods
Strength 20 Class Opportunist
Agility 13 Health 110 110
Intelligence 11 Stamina 40 40
Spirit 10 Mana 0 0
Charisma 13 Unspent AP 0
Luck ?? Unspent SP 0
Skills Iron Will, Leap, Vengeful Fury, Techno Babble
Chapter 4 The night was getting on, but I wasn¡¯t getting tired, the datapad was now flipped over, and I was undoing the screws at the back. My new skill allowed me to recognize it has a voice assistant setting, all I had to do was get to the switch and turn it on. However getting to it is no simple task, well it would be if I had the right too, but alas I did not so I was making do with a small hunting knife: the screws were unlike ones I¡¯ve had ever seen before, shaped in a hash symbol, and tight. A few hours of turning and almost slicing a finger off and I had the back panel open; the back looked like the layout of a smartphone, battery, storage card and another card which my best guess acted like a sim card. However, unlike earth technology, each of these parts had an alien quality, the battery was a glass tube with a pulsating blue liquid, the storage device was glass as well with blue tracks running along it, the sim was a dull grey color and gave off a yellowish glow. I found the switch for the voice assistant pretty straightforward, with the skill active it sort of labeled every part. Flipping it to the on position I turned the blocky tablet around. ¡°Initiated startup program,¡± I said, the words coming to me as the skill kicked in again. ¡°Greetings new user, on behalf of Dataword, I thank you on purchasing a Tier 1 Dataword data terminal¡± a pleasant monotone voice came from the small speaker on the front. ¡°Please place your palm on the terminal to complete registration¡± the screen flickered to show a box and some words that I still couldn''t read, I did as instructed placing my palm inside the box. The screen shone like a scanner, once it passed over my hand a few times, there was a ding like a microwave going off, and the voice continued. ¡°Greeting John Woods thank you for registering, I am the Dataword Integrated Assistant or Dia. How may I assist you today.¡± ¡°Set the language to English¡± I commanded, after a few seconds there was a buzz that I didn¡¯t like the sound of. ¡°I''m sorry John the language package for the earth language English has not been installed, Please take this terminal to a System store to purchase and download the language package¡± Dia¡¯s feminine monotone voice informed me. ¡°Dam, Okay then release chains on Vira Lightword,¡± I said. ¡°Warning, Releasing the chains on the slave will give them access to all magic and skill they have acquired,¡± a deeper monotone voice said. ¡°Do you wish to proceed?¡± ¡°Yes¡± I confirmed and then the sound of 5 locks being undone sounded as the chain fell away from Vira¡¯s sleeping form, she didn¡¯t even wake up. Shaking my head, I thought about what I need to do next. ¡°Dia, this terminal has a map feature correct?¡± Dia¡¯s voice answered in the affirmative. ¡°can you bring it up and place a marker to the closets System Store,¡± there where a few beeps and then the map revealed the closest system store, it was in the prison. ¡°and the second closest?¡± another beep and the map revealed the town I was heading too ¡°ah good there one in town¡± I looked closely at the map ¡°even better its at the pub¡±. *** The next day I awoke to the smell of roasting meat. Vira had caught a few birds that were about the size of a house cat, they were now plucked gutted and stuck on the ends of sticks as they rested over the fire. ¡°Morning Vira, I see you have started breakfast.¡± ¡°Yes Master, Giga Pigeons, they are a Cr 2 creature with I used the stun setting on the rifle and a blast of my magic to kill them and leave the meat undamaged,¡± Vira said with a pleased smile. ¡°Ah so you have your magic again, good looks like the bruising should clear up in a day or two as well,¡± I say checking her over, now up close and in daylight, I could see what kind of slave she would have been sold as. A pleasure slave, no doubt with her big breast, wide hips and slim waist, I don¡¯t know if Alien beauty is the same as on earth, but she was a knockout. A lot of indecent thoughts came to my head in a rush while the blood rushed in a different direction. Come on John. Get. It. Together. I chastised myself, quickly averting my wandering eyes. ¡°Uh um, I''m going to check on the loot, if you could break down the camp that would be great.¡± I paused ¡°actually where was all this stored, I didn¡¯t see any cargo when you guys arrived.¡± Looking over to Vira I saw a smile as bright as the sun. ¡°In this,¡± she said, holding up a midnight blue crystal, it was so dark it was almost black. ¡°It¡¯s a Tier 3 Storage crystal¡± her solid green eyes glowed as she began to explain the magic of the crystal. ¡°It a portal pocket dimension stored within a mana crystal, there''s nothing inside the dimension unless you put it in there. It works by-.¡±I kinda zoned out as she got into the way it stored items. Really the only thing I need to know the rules and how to use it. Rule number one, do not put storage items inside of storage items, so no Russian nesting crystals. Rule Number two, living beings cannot be placed inside the crystal. Rule number three, do not exceed the space limit. How to use it was simple as well just wave it over the item think ¡®Store¡¯ and accept the prompt. I walked away from the conversation, I kind of understand why her former masters had forbidden her from talking. Kind of. I decided to look over the loot from the two brothers, most of it was junk, just hot weather gear for the clothing, I guess Omicre 5 is a cold planet. One of the brothers did have a belt, that did appeal to me it was a light blue and must be made of some kind of silk-like fabric.
Sash of Minor Strength
Type: Belt Tier 2 Durability: 89/140 Property 1: +2 Strength Property 2: +1 Armor
I felt like there was a lot of information missing from it, but hey bonus strength. I smiled as a wrapped it around my waist, the blue clashing with the orange jumpsuit. Looking at my flat slip-on shoes, I noticed that they didn¡¯t bring up a pop-up. Actually, nothing I had did, only the items I gained from the brothers gave me information. I looked over to Vira who was undoing her tent, I was about to ask her why and then I thought against it, she would probably waffle on about the system and mana. I pulled out the data terminal again. ¡°Dia, why aren''t my clothes giving me system messages or whatever they¡¯re called?¡± ¡°Only system registered items will generate the Item prompts¡± Dia easily explained. ¡°Anyway to register an item?¡± I ask the next logical question. ¡°Registering an item can be done at any system store, price depends on the item type and tier of the item. the system then can duplicate and sell the registered item which the will earn the original owner of the item a small royalty for one system cycle.¡± Dia was calm and straight to the point, she was becoming a godsend. ¡°Thanks, Dia,¡± I said as I picked up one of the Scimitars.
Valnari Scimitar
Type: Sword Tier 3 Durability: 170/210 Damage: 80 (physical damage)The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Again fundamental information, there''s a probably a skill to reveal more. But 80 points of damage was kind of amazing, my punches were doing 20 points of damage at the moment, and 10 of that could not be blocked or resisted so maybe that''s why that damage was so high, if armor were such a big factor of mitigating physical damage the sword would only do a fraction of the damage. I checked the stun rifle next. It was pretty simple looking; just a rifle stock with, a boxy mechanism and trigger, from the box a barrel, jutted out. ''Barrel'' might not be the right word because it wasn''t hollow just a circler metal bar.
Gulnapian Stun Rifle
Type: Energy Rifle Tier 3 Durability: 100/210 Damage: 150 (stun damage, Nonlethal) Modes: Stun, Net, Overcharge.
I decided to hold on to a scimitar and a stun rifle, the rifles had a shoulder strap, so they were easy to carry the sword I just careful put in my sash. ¡°Vira take whatever you want from the loot¡± I called out to her as I walked over to the stream to have a smoke. As I pulled out a smoke I got a item prompt.
Earth Cigarette
Type: Drug Tier 1 Durability: 4/4 Property 1: Relaxation, 5 minutes. Property 2: Addiction, 14 days. Property 3: -5 Health for 5 Minutes.
Well looks like someone registered smokes I thought as light the thing that was clearly killing me and placed it in my mouth, taking a long drag. I felt instantly relaxed even more than a standard cigarette would typically do. ¡°Dia, why does the smoke work better?¡± I ask stupidly as the drug mellowed me out. ¡°Now that your cigarettes have been system registered, the system is providing the typical tier 1 relaxation, and tier 1 health and addiction Penalties¡± Dia answered from where she was kept on my sash. ¡°So the smoke isn¡¯t doing anything? Does this mean I won''t get cancer?¡± I ask confused. ¡°Yes John you are now a system being, Cancer and other harmful effects can only be dealt by the system, Even though your old body would have gotten cancer from the number of cigarettes you have smoked, your new body is that equal to any other being under the star system¡± Dia explained. ¡°What the hell does that mean?¡± I say through gritted teeth. ¡°Essential john you are now a system registered being and only system registered things can do you harm or give you benefits¡± Dia answered. ¡°Take the candy bar you ate after your fall in the woods if the Snickers bar were registered you would of gain a few buffs as well as increased stamina regeneration, however, it wasn¡¯t registered, so all you gained was the pleasant taste of the snack.¡± ¡°Wait so why did my health regen when I ate it?¡± I ask. ¡°Outside of combat your health regenerates as your body absorbs ambient mana, you sitting down and eating told the system you were not in combat, so your body started to collect mana to restore its form.¡± Dia explained, ¡°It felt quick because of the low amount of Mana that makes up your health pool.¡± ¡°Wait, but I don¡¯t have mana? Thanks to that skill Iron Will¡± I was so lost I was starting to think that dia was Just fucking with me. ¡°Everything in the System is mana John, Including you,¡± Dia said. I stopped the conversation there my head was starting to hurt, and even the system generated Relaxed condition was struggling against the rising anxiety I was feeling. 20 minutes later Vira and I were jogging at a decent step towards the town, using the stream as a guide we were in no trouble of getting lost. ¡°John, can I ask you a question?¡± Vira said as we jogged alongside each other. ¡°You just did. But I¡¯ll let you have another¡± I answer as the corners of my mouth perk up. ¡°Um thanks, could you tell me about yourself? I would like to know my new master, so I can better serve him.¡± Vira looked away from me. ¡°Well let¡¯s see, Full name John Jacob Wood, Age 34, Born in Australia, Single Dad and spent the last 3 years in a cell for assault with a deadly weapon,¡± I say as a leap over a fallen log, I got the glimpse of a spider leg that would put the humble huntsman to shame. the sight of the hairy leg sent a shiver down my spine, I subsequently picked up the pace and started to look at the surrounding trees. ¡°You were in prison! But convicted criminals where one of the groups selected to be monsters!¡± Vira Exclaimed her voice became a bit pitched and lost some of the honey to it. ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t know, I mean the system told me I was not guilty, but I did beat a man almost to death with a tire iron, so maybe it was a glitch or something¡± I say, I even pled guilty to lessen the charge from attempted murder to assault with a deadly weapon, though I would have killed the scumbag if I had the chance. I slowed my pace, coming to a stop. ¡°John?¡± Vira voice was soft, and her eyes were filled with worry as she looked upon my crazed smile and wide eyes. ¡°John are you okay?¡± ¡°He alive isn¡¯t he. That bastard has connections he would be alive. Three years is plenty of time for him to recover to. I have another chance, my cursed fate has given me another chance.¡± Vengeful Fury Activated. My vision turned the deep blood red as the skill activated, losing all control again. My hand gripped the scimitar as I saw Vira backing away from me. Her pretty mouth was moving again, but the sound they were making eluded me. I felt my body start to move towards her as I drew the sword. Tears were running down her face. Why is she crying? My raddled mind asked Has someone hurt her? My mind somehow focused on her eyes they were beautiful, almond shaped and solid green like an emerald, glowing brightly, I would hurt anyone that hurt this woman. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck, my head turned to see a large spider was on my back. [Giant Grass Spider, CR 5] My Mind only just registered the name as my body started moving, grabbing the spider in my free hand, I pulled the spider of my back. Ugly black eyes and crushing mandibles where my greeting. My arm bulge as I squeezed the spider, its exoskeleton was tough, but the white mist wafting off my hand seemed to seep into it. After a while of me holding the spider at arm''s length using all my strength trying to break the harder outer layer of the spider and failing the spider''s eyes turned a milky white and green ichor dripped out of its mouth. I caught the flash of a combat message as my blood started to cool. Grass spider Toxin deals 2 Stamina damage. You have defeated a Giant Grass Spider. I then promptly collapsed to my knees as the blood red vision faded, I was panting heavily. My stamina had dropped to 0, and I was on 25 health. Grass Spider Toxin Deals 8 Points of Poison damage. Make that 17 health. ¡°Vira, what happens to you if I die?¡± I cough black blood seeping between my lips. ¡°If there is no master to claim me I will be destroyed and sent to the system store to be purchased again¡± Vira whispers ¡°but I can save you if master allows me to use my magic on him.¡± ¡°Please do!¡± I scream as I take another 8 points of damage. Vira''s hands begin to glow green, and after a second she sends a bolt of green energy towards my chest. Vira Lightword has Used Earthen Mend. You regain 10 Health, You have been Cleansed. I quickly scanned the message as Vira sank to her knees blood started to drip from her nose. Breathing heavily ¡°fuck I need a beer.¡± Five minutes later my stamina and health had recovered and so where Vira¡¯s, apparently we were both ¡®Low Level¡¯ but Vira was slightly lower than me seeing she scored an AP from the death of the Giant Grass Spider. We headed off again, in silences I scanned the trees I started to spot webs hanging between them, but they quickly faded away as we got closer to the town. I spotted the road, and we promptly got out of the forest. The area was still wooded, but if we stuck on the middle line, we had a good 20 feet either side before the tree line. 40 minutes later we came across a burnt and broken sign all that was left was a few words. Welcome to & the established date. All good signs that the town was alive and well, I sarcastically thought. Letting a sigh, I looked at the sun, I was never really good at telling the time from just the sun alone, but I could usually get it within 1 or two hours. I guessed that is was about 2 o¡¯clock, if America was much like Australia these welcome signs were usually about 5 minutes out of town, which meant another 10 minutes at a jog, I could taste the cold beer already, and my mouth started to water. My estimation on how much longer we need to jog was off, by a lot it was close to another hour till we got to the bridge that crosses the stream. The town was on the other side of the short low bridge, but I was in no hurry to cross it, as I saw 14 creatures stalking around a boarded up building. [WereWolf CR 10]