ã€Š(Dropped) The Story Previously Known as: NeoRealm - Staring back into the Futureã€‹ Prologue - wherein we get the whole reincarnation thing over with Welcome one and all to my first try at writing a story. I can''t promise a steady release schedule what with college and such but an attempt will be made. This first chapter or more properly the prologue will get the back-story of the character tidied up and let me sweep the reincarnation stuff under the rug. As with a lot of stories I have seen it is more of a plot device to get the story started rather than an ongoing plot point. Though no promises as the whole story isn''t planned out. I would say I am flying by the seat of my pants but I think I lost those a few miles back.

I once was a friend of a Hero. Not just any hero but a Hero above all with god given talent, Qi channels so wide you could drive a truck through them, and a body so pure if he takes a bath the water is cleaner after he gets out. Me? I was as common as mud and yet before I ''left'' was on the same level of cultivation as him. Yeah, he was a lazy fool who thought that keeping up with average was enough. All the while I trained so hard even with him giving me half his monthly medicine supply barely kept me healthy. He saved the world though. Took quite the kick to the rear to get him serious with training. Demon Lords from beyond space and time don''t defeat themselves you know. What caused him to train you ask? Imps, I hate them now. Then again, who wouldn''t after being eviscerated by them for a couple hours then seeing your clan head break in to save you before it all goes black. Anyway, if you can''t pick up the hint, I died. This made my friend realize he needed power so that wouldn''t happen again. One 10 year training montage later and he slays the big bad causing the world to once again be safe. All nice and interesting but where does that leave me? After all, I am dead. How do I even know all that? Short answer is the gods felt sorry for me. They had reason to mind you. It is their fault I died. When my friend was born the gods all got together and obscured the fact my friend was the hero by swapping our auras. The result being imps mistaking me for the hero and well yeah. I don''t blame them and they were nice. After all, they let me watch how it all went down instead of throwing me right back into the reincarnation cycle. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Got lucky with that. When a soul sticks around with some gods long enough the whole memory wipe before being reborn thing goes away. Friends in high places and what not. Anyway with some sad farewells I got put back into the cycle of life. I will be skipping my early years. Having originally grown up in a clan centered on martial arts and cultivation doesn''t teach you math or writing. this made my time as a child average for earth. I tried to cultivate. Sadly the Qi on earth is so thin you can''t get past the first layer. This isn''t enough to extend your life by even a decade. The only big thing of note was the development of true VR. All it took was a giant coffin-shaped box and some advanced energy projectors which beam info straight into your brain. From what I understand it works like those noise canceling headphones. It cancels out the signals trying to enter and leave the brain then replaces it with its own signal. That is interesting of course but it isn''t enough for me to be recording this down. No, why you can read my story is because of what happened when I turned 18 and was finally allowed to play the most realistic game in existence, NeoRealm. *Ding* Qi detected - Qi stat unlocked Chapter 1 - turning 18 Wow, we made it to the first chapter. Now some things to lay down. First off this color of text is author text and will not be used for anything but such. Next off for you the few who have found this so far. While sharing is nice I would much prefer if we keep this story under wraps till about chapter 5 (which has as of this edit been reach so you may now spread this story far and wide). Purely selfish on my part really. I have noticed that unless there is a few chapters or equivalent behind a story I tend to toss it in a ¡®check it later¡¯ bin which is what I renamed my trash bin. Finally, I am an Immortal Dragon *rawr* ¡°talking aloud¡± thinking *actions* person doing it ~ what they do

Today, I, Jason am turning 18. It isn¡¯t particularly important for most things. Not like I plan to start smoking or what have you. I will however finally count as an adult. More specifically as per government regulations I now ¡®have a stable enough hold on one''s own sanity to not lose themselves within a fully immersive VR experience¡¯. All in all, I can now play NeoRealm like the 83% of all those 18 and up on this planet. It is amazing how far it has come in about 3ish years since the game¡¯s debut. voice ~ ¡±Breakfasts ready, come on down birthday boy! You can monologue another time.¡± ¡°Coming down Mother¡± Mother ~ ¡°Eggs in the pan, bacon on the paper towel, and the installers will be here to put your ~~coffin~~ VR capsule in your room at noon.¡± *sigh* Not like getting the capsule installed sooner would do any good. Damn government keeping track of the exact time of birth. Might as well finish breakfast and do a last minute check of the web. --- ~Noonish --- *waves* ¡°Thanks for being quick!¡± Well lets take a look at how it looks then. Huh, I guess mom wasn¡¯t wrong all those times calling it a coffin. I guess that is what you get when you for the cheap style. Least the thing doesn¡¯t have a cross on it or something like that. Course its silver because not going to pay for a paint job. Also it looks like a piece of paper is stuck on it let''s check it. Can¡¯t think it would be instructions. The capsule is supposed to put apple products to shame on ease of use. Just jump in and then talk to the empty white room.

~NeoRealm~ the most realistic VR game to date. A cunning mix of Sci-Fi and the Supernatural spread across a galaxies worth of planets just waiting for you to dive in. Want to experience the mysteries of psionic powers? Become one of the Talented and work to improve your rating all the way up to 1 and move moons. Do you just desire to wield sheer power? Join one of the main factions and work your way up so you can be the one who with the press of a button can wipe a planet off the face of the universe. Or maybe you just want to know what its like to be a cat person. We have those too. Come on in and join us at 5x the speed of boring old reality (you heard us right, not your average everyday 4x time compression!).

Oh I guess they don¡¯t even bother checking if you already ordered the game. They stick the ad right on the VR cabin. Probably even if you get the personalized NeoRealm skin for the thing. I don¡¯t get why people dress their capsules up as you¡¯re supposed to be in it. That is about the only thing I upgraded on the whole thing. I went with the EltroMuscle Toner upgrade so I don¡¯t have to worry about becoming a wimp. Well lets jump in then. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. *Psssht lid opens and a black flat surface extends out* Huh, I thought it would be more contoured¡ Ah never mind the material is like memory foam. *As I finish laying down the surface retracts me into the guts of the machine. The lid goes down and before I can worry that the top starts to smother me the area around the mouth retracts providing a space to breathe and then WHITE* SYSTEM ~ ¡°Welcome first time user. Your identity has been confirmed and registered as the main user. Would you like to customize your room, name me, or open any existing items though do be warned. You are still 7 minute, 13 seconds, and 34 milliseconds till you will be 18 and thus cannot play any VR games right now.¡± So this is what they mean by white room. I think it''s a square but it is completely white. Literally completely white. Let¡¯s fix that first. ¡°System, I am gonna name you Avatre and you are to use a female voice. Next color the walls in a nice aqua. Same for the ceiling but with clouds being animated. Also make the ground a warm shade of green with a variance so it doesn¡¯t look flat.¡± AVATRE ~ ¡°Yes sir, all things you mention are possible though if you want realistic cloud animations that needs to be bought in the store for $5. Your account is linked to a bank account so so you confirm your desire to buy now.¡± ¡°No thank you. Avatre, show existing items.¡± *After a moment in front of me a rotating icon for NeoRealm appears. It looks like a planet half dense jungle and half heavy city with a stylized banner stating the name in front of it looking like a group of space stations* Nice, I can see giant flying creatures over the jungle area sometimes getting shot down if they stray into the city area. It also looks like both the sides are trying to overtake each other like a couple of amoebas fighting each other. *I reach forward and grab the icon and throw it against the wall. Upon hitting it splashes across the wall and drips down leaving a glowing portal behind* Well that looks cool, wasn¡¯t expecting it to do that. Might as well step through and start character creation. Oh yeah ¡°Avatre, is my waiting room real time or what?¡± AVATRE ~ ¡°The room is set to real time though you can set it up to 2 times. This can be further improved in the shop up to 4 times speed in increments of .25. Also as a note since you have installed NeoRealm I am happy to inform you that the in-game currency can be used in the shop. Though we cannot replicate the 5 times speed.¡± ¡°Okay set it to 2 times speed for now.¡± I will have to check what the exchange rate is because you never know when 4 times speed would be useful. Anyway time to go through the door.

Oh yeah, I would appreciate any criticism. Though mind you my response will be equal to how good your criticism is. Being a negative nancy for no real good reason or at least without stating why helps no one. Chapter 2 - Falling Apperently Hello everyone! Chapter 2 and we are finally entering the game. I probably could have consolidated the prologue and chapter 1 into a single chapter but the reincarnation stuff was sort of it¡¯s own deal which except for some confusing bits coming up could probably be completely skipped. Oh and don¡¯t get too comfortable with the new chapter everyday thing that I have had going on. Spring semester for college is starting soon so I will have less time for this. Anyway lets get on with it *rawr*

And I¡¯m falling¡ So I took a step through the door to NeoRealm. Everything seemed normal and then I realized there wasn¡¯t anything under me. Thus started my expedient trip down. ??? ~ ¡°Welcome to NeoRealm Traveller! Congratulations on being one of the fastest to realize you weren¡¯t standing on anything without knowing it ahead of time. Seeing as you amuse me I will have someone personally help you with character creation. Just give me a second. Rose, We have an interesting one. Come on over and help him with character creation! Okay, she should be over in a moment. Until then you can wait *Suddenly the surroundings change into a posh looking waiting room and I slowly drop into a chair* ??? ~ ¡°here. Hope you like your stay in our realm!¡± Okay that I must admit was unexpected. I was expecting something to happen as even the spoiler free stuff mentioned the start to be quite a shock but they most certainly didn¡¯t go through that. I guess I get to be guided through the setup by an actual person instead of just an automated script. Oh, hey, the magazines are actually just blogs about the game. Guess I can read one whi Rose ~ ¡°Hello sir, I don¡¯t have all the time in the world no matter how interesting you may be so lets get this show on the road. Shall we?¡± ¡°Um, Okay. So whats first then?¡± Rose ~ ¡°Well normally the system would give you the choice of any currently available race but to speed this up are you looking for anything specific so I can narrow the selection down a bit? Oh and choose a name.¡± ¡°Call me Jade I guess. Also Psionics sound interesting though I don¡¯t want to train hard. Maybe a race which just has a minor power as more of a gimmick. also I want to stay humanish and mostly the same body type. I have a good feel for my body with a bit of martial training so I don¡¯t want to start all over in that regard. Is that enough to narrow it down?¡± Rose ~ ¡°Hmm, a minor power. Not many people want that and just go for the extremes. Oh and we call Psionics and such Talent in here. Whoever was in charge was a big fan of a book series which named it such. Anyway would you like the power to be offensive, defensive, or just utility? The offensive ones are the most common as races tend to develop their powers for survival and defense comes in at a close second, probably only lagging because you can also hunt with an attack. Utility while not rare tends to only come attached to a race who already has all the other stuff but there are a few good options.¡± ¡°Give me the utility. That sounds like it would be the most useful overall. A small attack or defense would just get overshadowed and mostly forgotten on the wayside once I have access to better stuff. After all, once you have a rifle you won¡¯t go back to the blunderbus.¡± Rose ~ ¡°With that in mind we still have about 53 races though I must admit many of them are just humans which were stuck on a planet alone for a few hundred years. Let¡¯s start by looking at the¡± ??? ~ ¡°pssht, show him the Far Human¡± Rose ~ ¡°As I was saying let¡¯s start by looking at the ones closest to the center of mankind. Though as we were so rudely interrupted if you don¡¯t like the first few I will show you the Far Human. First up is the¡ Well everyone calls them the Spine Men. They have a real name but I honestly can¡¯t pronounce it. Their interesting quality is that they have sharp bone protrusions along their spine and at their joints. Partly to protect the area and mostly as a weapon. Their planet of origin is classified as a death world which are places so extreme that only extreme evolutionary measures will let things survive on them. They mostly focus on strength and have a muscle packed body which shows the true meaning of offense is the best defense as they are so tough normal blades can¡¯t cut them. The Talent they have is a minor regeneration which is required to keep the areas around their spikes healed. Their biggest down side is agility and space travel. Their bone spikes require a special suit and even then fighting might cause tears in it. Here is what you would look like as one without changes¡± *A 3d image of a distorted version of me appears in front of us with horrible bone spikes popping out all over the place* ¡°Ugh, lets skip them and in fact any options which are so, so horribly muscled as well. I like my agility and lithe looks thank you very much. Also while the spikes are interesting the difficulty with space travel doesn¡¯t sound fun to me. Any options which make space travel hard should be taken out as well. If I am in a game about travelling the universe I want to do just that.¡± Rose ~ ¡°Hmm, well that does narrow our options down quite a bit further. Most utility powers come from the body already being able to defend itself. Actually it takes like most of the top 23 options out with the rest being knocked out by the travel thing. I was thinking you might like the Banderkin too. Sadly their bodies are covered with a sensitive fur like hair which needs a good air circulation or it starts being damaged. Can¡¯t even dream of taking a ride on a smaller ship or heavens forbid go by low passage. Their ability to read the emotional atmosphere with their talent is almost too much to be a minor power as well if it wasn¡¯t for the uncontrolled nature of it. With that I guess I should just skip right to the Far Humans. I was avoiding them as they are quite boring actually. All they are is a regular human who had a parent that happened to travel a little too far beyond the core realm, stared into the abyss a little too much, or jumped a few too many times in succession. They aren¡¯t tainted, mutated, evolved, modified, or in anyway different from most humans besides a tendency for oddly colored hair and eyes (though honestly you Travellers all seem to want odd colors) as well as a guaranteed minor power. It does tend to end up integrating with your skills over time though even that is boring. The best way to describe the ability is like that spell from fantasy roleplaying games of old, prestidigitation. *sigh* They are so much like humans that unless a high level identification happens you most of the time even register as human. Well here is what you would look like¡± *An image which is almost exactly like me pops up, standing in at about 6 foot tall with an about average build though slightly on the slimmer side. It has a slightly tan appearance making the only real difference between the image and me a vivid shade of blue for the hair and the eyes which are a deep aqua almost transitioning to black in the center* ¡°Now that is more like it! I must admit the eyes might be a little creepy but otherwise this is what I want. Even the power is perfect. Minor yet helpful in the long run. I don¡¯t think I will ever not use it. Though I do have to ask, do normal humans have Talent? It would seem that especially with this one just labeling it human would be easier.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Rose ~ Of course he would like it. I just don¡¯t get what is so interesting about him that I would be called out to help with character creation. He seems boring to me. ¡°Regular humans do have Talent. It is just that you wanted something specific. A normal human just has whatever random powers they might end up with. The near human races tend to be differentiated, especially with ones which are basically human, by whether the power breeds true. Actually Far Humans about the only exception to that. The only way to make a Far Human is to have the parents meet one of the conditions. With that in mind there are no half-whatevers when it comes to human sub-races. You¡¯re either a Spine Man or not. If both parents are from different sub-races it¡¯s a random chance which they take from or they turn out as a regular human with powers from both sides. Though they won¡¯t be able to guarantee that the powers will pass on just like any other human. The System has told us that you can have on a very rare occasion a cross-breed bud like a mule it stops there and no one has had a verified sighting of one yet. Anyway with the race and appearance chosen we can move onto the stats. Just say status and your base stats should appear then show Rose so I can help.¡± ¡°Status¡± *Ding*

Qi Detected
Qi Stat Unlocked	Qi set to 1

Status Panel
NAME	Jade
Class		LEVEL	0
RACE	Human	SUB-RACE	Far Human
TITLES
Interesting

Basic Stats
Strength	4	Agility	7
Vitality	5	Mental Fortitude	11
Unspent Points	5
Advanced Stats
Leadership	2	Luck	13
Qi	1

Health Points	16	Health Regen	.05/sec
Stamina Points	16	Stamina Regen	.08/sec
Talent Points	24	Talent Regen	.12/sec

TALENTS
Name	Rank
Prestidigitation	15

¡°Uh, it just told me I unlocked the Qi stat¡± Rose ~ ¡°No it didn¡¯t. That needs an advanced class and only unlocks for non-humans. Besides Luck all your starting stats are based on you and what was done to the character model.¡± ¡°Well you can just take a look and tell me if I am hallucinating or not, Status Show rose¡± Rose ~ ¡°Looks normal, high mental fortitude and¡ Ah, you do have Qi. Don¡¯t mind me I need to yell at the mystery voice you shouldn¡¯t even know about. Why in all the Realms does he have a damn Qi Stat! Travellers shouldn¡¯t ever start with that stat! Even natives need some weird cultivation techniques to get it without a specific class or race.¡± ??? ~ ¡°I know right? I told you he was interesting *giggle*¡± Rose ~ ¡°You¡ Nevermind, I don¡¯t care. Congratulations, you have Qi. You can infuse your attacks and the amount decides how effective it is. Being an advanced stat you can¡¯t put points into it so unless you find some damn cultivation technique that actually works for humans or get the right class it won¡¯t do you much good as it is stuck where it is at. You can spend your points in your basic stats though do note that once a stat reaches double digits it takes more points to raise it depending on class and race. I advise if you want to do so hold onto your points till you get a class as it may reduce the cost.¡± ¡°I think 3 in agility to put it up to 10 and then 1 in strength and vitality¡± Rose ~ ¡°Okay, with that mess taken care of do you have any specific planet you want to start on? As you chose Far Human you can choose anywhere a Human can start which is basically anywhere except the homeworlds of other races and any restricted areas.¡± ¡°Well seeing how things are going lets have the mystery voice decide.¡± Rose ~ ¡°I wouldn¡¯t advise tha¡± ??? ~ ¡°Check! Once again welcome to the realms and have a nice day!¡± *With a burst of color I disapeer¡± Rose ~ *sigh* ¡°Can I get back to my family? I am completely over dealing with Travellers for the day. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you can literally conjure whatever I need to smooth the trouble I was in before I would wash my hands of this. No one should know this much about their home.¡± ??? ~ ¡°I am sorry about it. You have been a great help and unlike some you actually kept it a secret so I didn¡¯t have to mindwipe you.¡± Rose ~ ¡°Well thats disturbing¡¡±

Well next chapter we should finally get into the actual game. Some things to note. The class matters a lot for the things like health. Not having a class really nerfs you. Health without a class is Str+Agi+Vit. The balance and amount they go into your hp can change massively. An agile class will get more from Agility instead of Strength or Vitality for instance. Talent ranks and most abilities are based off of Anne McCaffrey¡¯s two Talent series. Also some of the world building (including the literal world building) will be partly based on the original Travellers RPG. Oh and for a final thought, don''t know what is up with my table but the table maker thing needs silverlight and I''m on the cheapest little netbook with linux thrown on it cause windows was to big to really run. Tommorow on my main comp I may mess with the tables to see if I can make them less derpy. Chapter 3 - Dar C477467 - 6 S Poor Agricultural The title tells you quite a bit about the planet he ended up on. It could be seen as a bit of a spoiler. Honestly, though if you can understand what it says you deserve to know. Also, except for the population it was all legit rolled for with a real d6. Not that it matters that much since I will change it as needed and was just using this as a starting point. *rawr*

Welcome to Dar!

Please note that because of Governmental strife you are spawning in the local scout base.

Well, that warning sounds fun. Looks like I spawned in a supply closet¡ Without a door knob on the inside. Have to guess this is their version of quarantine. Better knock and see if anyone is there to let me out. *knock knock knock* gruff voice ~ ¡°Hey Dile, we got another Traveller spawned in!¡± ?Dile ~ ¡°Well process him! I should have to hold your hand. Enough of them were popping in only a few weeks ago.¡± *A slat in the door I had missed opens* gruff voice ~ ¡°Hey newbie. Welcome to the middle of nowhere¡¯s anus. Sorry for the captivity as you appear new. I will have to ask you a few questions the first of which is to identify yourself and any groups your a part of.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Jade and I am not a part of any group. Brand new to the realms.¡± gruff voice ~ ¡°Hmm, give me a second. This clunky old Identifier is a bit slow though for this place its above the top of the line.¡± *A sudden bright flash followed by whirring sounds* gruff voice ~ ¡°Huh, you were telling the truth. I was expecting you to be a part of that damn hostage taking bastard. Anyway you chose or more likely chose random and ended up in the middle of a war. The current government is under the control of one of your types by force. Long as you Oath to not join them we can let you out. Be warned that no matter what fancy guns you might end up with that the current problems mean that all projectile weapons are outlawed. Swords and such still good though who knows for how much longer.¡± ¡°So how do I make an Oath as I assume it means something? Also what does it mean for me?¡± gruff voice ~ ¡°Ah you said you were new, and you weren¡¯t kidding. Oaths came about through the natural laws of the realms a few millennia before you Travellers showed up. When you declare a serious Oath a God screen will pop up visible to all asking if you confirm. Once you do you¡¯re held to your words. A native will just die without chance of any revive. You Travellers not only die but all of your progress gets reset. Also you are flung across the universe to revive in a place that whatever powers that be deem as being boring for you and devoid of any of your friends. Oh and since you need it to make the Oath the damn fool who took over is called xxxAlexanderxxx.¡± ¡°Why would he call himself that? We aren¡¯t limited in anyway for our names beyond a little profanity filtering. Well with a name like that I wouldn¡¯t want to join him anyway. So I make an Oath to not knowingly join xxxAlexanderxxx in controlling this world.¡±

Oath Confirmation
You are making an Oath to not knowingly join the faction controlled by the Traveller xxxAlexanderxxx in controlling the planet Dar. Make note that to break this Oath will result in reset.
Confirm	Deny

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. gruff voice ~ ¡°Boy, what you trying to pull? I said to not join him, period.¡± ?Dile ~ ¡°Nah, he did good. Just keeping his ass covered. If he accepts it let him out.¡± gruff voice ~ ¡°Whatever. If you say it¡¯s fine we can let him go out there and accidently join them.¡± *I press accept* *Clanking noises and the door opens to reveal a grizzled old man* gruff voice ~ ¡°Bah, you can get out of there now but be quick. Don¡¯t want another Traveller spawning in and escaping. You likely know already but you¡¯re in the scout base for this system. I recommend you to work quickly and getting the heck out of dodge. Leastwise the starbase we have is a C so it shouldn¡¯t be hard to get out of here. The forests off to the west has what your types like to call monsters though I must admit it is appropriate. Should be easy enough for someone as low leveled as you to take care of after you get equipment and a base class. Used to be we all went and trained there when we could carry firearms. Now it is too dangerous if you don¡¯t revive when you die. Can¡¯t take those damn critters with just a sword or spear.¡± ¡°Um okay. Any advice on where to pick up a class and some gear?¡± gruff voice ~ ¡°You''re in luck as we still have all the base classes available even if you want to be a gunner. Though you won¡¯t get a gun once you have it. If you want my advice then go hit the library and read up on them all. You can find it down the street. It is big and labeled so long as you can read you should be fine. Oh and don¡¯t be a fool like so many of your type tend to be and try to find a hidden class. There is no base hidden class. You need a class first before you can get one. That fact was confirmed by the God Screens. Also at various points both us Natives and you Travellers have guided classless types to one to see if they can get it. Oh and one final thing. We can¡¯t provide you with a wrist comp here cause the local tech level is too low. You will need to get to the starbase first.¡± ¡°Well thank you for the input I guess. Hopefully I can leave soon enough. Bye.¡± *With that I leave and head towards the library* That was an interesting info dump. I have an idea of what the base classes are but a quick peak won¡¯t hurt anyone. Though first I should probably look up what the planet itself is like. --- Time passes at the library --- So the planet is mostly water with only a single landmass at the equator. It also looks like most of the population is in a single large city though large might be a bit much. Seems to be only a few tens of thousands of people on the planet as a whole. Also he was understating that forest to the west. Though I can¡¯t fault him for saying to the west. You could head west from anywhere on the continent and hit it as it takes almost half the land area. The outer fringe should be good enough for training. Anyway time to read about the classes.

Next chapter will get him out into the actual city instead of a quick scene change. He might even talk to a librarian before leaving. One thing I will say before ending this though is I never liked how hidden classes always seem to drop onto other MCs head¡¯s. Not that it is bad for stories but I decided that whatever class my MC gets it will be hard fought. Chapter 4 - Classy Gah, college snuck up on me. Next week might see me disappearing for a bit. Thought I still had a week left but nope. Sunday I move into the dorm. *rawr*

Hmm, if we are going to look at the classes I guess a bit of grounding in how the system works might be in order. From what this book says there are only 6 base classes. While it does seem like a small number it looks like once you hit level 10 of a base class it goes through a variation and this is where things really spread out. Though looking at this book it appears that any time you get a new class your level goes back to 1. Luckily you don¡¯t lose any stats you get though it seems that the level 0 points are probably going to be the only time I get to have so many points that can be allocated anywhere. Most classes after the base ones seem to only give 1 or 2 points a level if that. I guess this is to prevent too crazy a stat inflation. Anyway lets start looking at the Gunner class since that old fool back at the scout base mentioned it.

Class Name	Gunner
Point Growth	+2 Agi, +1 MF, +2 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Ranged Weapon Proficiency	Beginner 5
Aim	Beginner 5
Hide	Beginner 2
Steady Hand	Beginner 2

The skills seem more interesting then I was actually expecting. Of course they follow the Beginner, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master ranks with 10 levels each. It seems though that some of the generic ones actually don¡¯t quite follow that. For instance the Ranged Weapon Proficiency once it would level up to Basic instead of doing that the skill will be removed and you will receive more specific skills. If you only threw knives then you would just get Knive Throwing Basic 1. On the other hand if you use a variety of weapons then you get skills for them all but at some level of Beginner in relation to how many and how much you spread your practice out. Also any of the skills which are basically all about system assist if you are capable of doing it yourself not only will you level up the skill faster but you get bonuses for not using the system assist. Aim is a good example as you get bonus damage if you¡¯re actually able to aim yourself instead of letting the system do it for you. It also seems that even something like Aim can evolve into a variant depending on how you use it. If for Aim you basically only use it for long range or stealth shots it can evolve into Snipe. It seems that whenever a skill evolves you get a better bonus even if it back slides (the Aim to Snipe has the Snipe set to the rank before your current) but it covers less. Ranged Weapon Proficiency will basically give you a bonus to anything as long as you use it for a ranged attack including doing things like throwing a chair. Keeping that in mind it seems you can stop a skill from evolving so at least you can choose if you want it or not. Anyway next class to look at is Soldier.

Class Name	Soldier
Point Growth	+2 Agi, +2 Str, +2 Vit
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Melee Weapon Proficiency	Beginner 5
Heavy Blow	Beginner 5
Block	Beginner 2
Dodge	Beginner 2

Soldier is an interesting class as its the only Base class that gives 6 points a level. Of course the downside is that you don¡¯t get to choose where they go. Also if I had any desire to be a Martial Artist this is the one I would want to go with. If I focused on perfecting one weapon type then it would let me specialize with it and call me a Martial Artist. Sadly this isn¡¯t what I want. When the book told me about the Martial Artist class I was interested but my view of a Martial Artist is one who can use anything they need to. With the class you don¡¯t even get to choose what happens with your melee skill evolution as it instantly evolves it into a very specific one. Sure you get many bonuses but you would almost be worse at anything that isn¡¯t exactly your weapon. If you used a straight bladed double edged long sword then even if you just try to use a slightly curved one or a sword with only a single edge you lose all the benefits. The class though is a good example of how no matter where you start you can do almost anything. If your weapon of choice is a dagger the bonus will actually count when you throw it. If you then continue to throw it and level up Martial Artist till evolves again you can choose a class from the Gunner¡¯s class tree. But enough about that, onto the Pilot.

Class Name	Pilot
Point Growth	+3 Agi, +2 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Drive Vehicle	Beginner 5
Vehicle Weapons	Beginner 4
Vehicle Repair	Beginner 4
Light Weapon Proficiency	Beginner 1

This is the class I would want to start with if I wanted to drive around ships that can blow up small planets. Of course that is so far down it¡¯s tree I don¡¯t think any player has yet to reach it. Some even suspect that the specific class to do so is a hidden one that the big navies keep under wraps. This is also the class you want if you¡¯re into mechs. Of course that one is most certainly a hidden class though at this point can you really call it hidden if anyone who wants to find it can? Next up is actually the other Base class with easy access to piloting mechs, the Mechanic.

Class Name	Mechanic
Point Growth	+2 MF, +2 Agi, +1 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Repair	Beginner 5
Craft	Beginner 3
Tool Proficiency	Beginner 2
Scrounge	Beginner 1

My personal opinion is that the Mechanic is actually the better class to go for mechs with as you make your own. This means that unlike the Pilot you won¡¯t end up acquiring the ability to drive a mech yet not be able to get one. Also the Mechanic is the first class with a harvesting ability. Of course anyone can harvest things from the world. The skills for it though not only highlighted the resources but provides a system assist for harvesting the material and as mentioned if you don¡¯t need the assist you get better material from it as a benefit. Anyway not one of the really interesting base classes, the Droid Master.

Class Name	Droid Master
Point Growth	+2 Lead, +1 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Command Droid	Beginner 5
Repair Droid	Beginner 5
Craft Droid	Beginner 1
Scrounge	Beginner 1

This is the only class which increases an advanced stat. Of course the downside is you only get 3 stat points a level. That aside we once again see the Scrounge skill. I didn¡¯t really describe what it actually did as it sounds a little vague. What you get highlighted is parts which can help you with whatever you are currently repairing. It won¡¯t help you find the parts to make a new thing at all but if you¡¯re fixing something up it is quite the amazing skill. Another important note about this class is that it doesn¡¯t have a single combat skill to start with. This might seem bad but what isn¡¯t mentioned is that when you learn the class you are provided with the parts to make your first droid so you aren¡¯t completely defenseless. The final base class though is the oddest. Now let me present the Civilian. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Class Name	Civilian
Point Growth	+4 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Chosen on class selection	depends

First thing to note is that while you only get 4 stat points they are all free for you to choose. If it wasn¡¯t for the skills this would probably be the best. Of course for a class called Civilian you don¡¯t get the best of them. This is the class you choose if you want to be a crafter or a harvester. An example of this would be if you want to be an blacksmith. You would go to one and the skills you would get are metalsmithing, hammer proficiency, and heat resistance. Far as I can tell this class was the developers being lazy and not wanting too many base classes. There are some rumors going around that the better your teacher is the more skills you can get right off the bat. for instance if instead of just going to the local blacksmith you went to the planet''s best blacksmith you could end up with things like sharpening, repair, or even starting with the actual skill blacksmithing instead of metalsmithing (the difference is a blacksmith handles hard metals like iron while a silversmith deals with soft metals like gold). Of course you might notice that most of the classes seem quite low tech barring the Droid Master. Half of the problem is that I am currently on a planet with a tech level of 6. If it wasn¡¯t for the starbase the best transportation they would have is a plane that uses rotors. I actually think some of the base classes actually have other skills if you¡¯re on a higher tech planet. The other side of it is more a matter of being to low a level. While yes if you stay on a backwater planet like this you won¡¯t get a more tech oriented class anywhere else with even half decent access to the net and you can end up riding around in a powered mech which has lasers and such. Though now that I have a good understanding it all I have to actually choose one of the classes. While Gunner would be fun on this planet as it is I would be neutered. There isn¡¯t even an inventory system so I can¡¯t hide my guns when in town. Of course throwing knives are an option but you can¡¯t ever really carry enough. I probably will hold out on ranged combat. Pilot also isn¡¯t my cup of tea. I would rather just ride places instead of drive so that is out. Civilian is also out as I don¡¯t plan to main a crafter and to be honest even if I wanted to I would want to be doing something like computers or some such. Droid Master is out because I want off the planet as soon as possible and having a droid would make it cost more. Of course even if I just ditched my droid I would need enough money on the next planet to build a new one. The Soldier class as I said sounded interesting and would probably be the quickest at earning money. Sadly I just don¡¯t get a nice feel from it. Of course at this point I realize I have painted myself into a corner. The Mechanic it is apparently. Luckily you aren¡¯t stuck with the skills you start with. The biggest problem with getting new skills is just that it takes such a long time to get the first level. When you become a Droid Master just making one droid is enough to get the Craft Droid skill. You would have to successfully make 10 working droids at least to get the skill and even then you wouldn¡¯t have the Command Droid skill so they would be somewhat useless to you. Even beyond that the rank barriers are harder to get through if it isn¡¯t a skill that fits your class. A gunner who ends up picking up Pistol Proficiency later on in their career would easily be able to get it past the Beginner rank while a Civilian could end up stuck at the Beginner rank till something else levels up to assist it like getting Aim up there. Well I better go ask the librarian were I can learn to be a mechanic. ¡°Excuse me, I am a new traveller and would like to become a mechanic. Can you point me in the right direction?¡± Librarian ~ ¡°Well I can point you at the mechanic shop but it probably won¡¯t do you much good. Still I guess it won¡¯t hurt you to try. Assuming you came from the Scout Base it should be easy to find your way there. Go back towards the Scout Base and go past it. The next 4 way stop after it turn left and keep going till you see a giant garage. It is practically in the middle of the city so it is going to take a long time to walk there.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you for the directions.¡± --- A couple hours later --- Well that should be the place though the police presence doesn¡¯t seem good. Might as well give it a go. I hope I don¡¯t end up dieing even before I get my class. Police Officer ~ ¡°Halt, state your reason for approaching the Royal Mechanic shop!¡± ¡°I am a new traveller and would like to get the Mechanic class¡± Police Officer ~ ¡°Once you swear loyalty to xxxAlexanderxxx you may freely enter. Be warned all official Mechanics have been consolidated by the Ruler so any attempt to circumvent this restriction will be dealt with harshly.¡± ¡°Ah, I assume you know what it takes to get out of the scout base then¡± Police Officer ~ ¡°Yeah, sorry about this kid. Well, good luck with finding another class. Though I wouldn¡¯t try for Droid Master. That was locked down last week. In fact you better be quick or you might get stuck here for a long while as you can¡¯t earn much as a Civilian.¡± ¡°Well thank you for the heads up.¡± *I hang my head a bit and turn around to leave. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a shadow move in an alley which seemed to be a person. With a quick glance I confirm it and note them pointing at a stop a few blocks down. Heading there I keep my head down and make the turn. Once I have gone down the road to the first allay someone grabs me and pulls me into it.* Stranger ~ ¡°Shh, If you want to be a mechanist still I might be able to help you. To clear the air I must admit that I have been following you since the library. Dile liked your Oath. He said it showed a good mind which is quite rare for you travellers. My task was to observe you and see what you ended up deciding on and potentially help. You actually chose the one class which I can help you with quite easily. The Twat in charge corralled up all the official mechanics. Figures that if a rebellion can¡¯t repair its equipment they are finished. Luckily there are a few unofficial ones out there. At this point though to learn the class you have one option. Head to the forest outpost and go to the blacksmith there. He used to be one of the better Mechanics before he lost his family to a mugger. Just tell him Dile¡¯s mystery friend pointed you towards him and he might teach you. Anyway I am now going to release you and disappear. You never heard what I said and I don¡¯t exist. Luck to you then Traveller.¡± *He lets go of me and I don¡¯t even hear footsteps but I assume he has already left.* With this at least I can get my class. Still this is going to take 2 thirds of my money so it is a one way trip till I can earn some money. The only safe way to the forest outpost is by a special underground train. Planes are in danger of being taken down by flocks of vicious monster birds. Well better make my way there. Daylight is being burned and I don¡¯t have a place to stay in the city.

Bit of an info dump on how classes and skills work. Some things not mentioned is a more in-depth on what the rank bottlenecks are and the cost to level them. Basically each new rank moves the decimal point on what it takes to level though that is highly simplified and it tends to be more case by case. Also each class has a max level at which it will always evolve into something new. While it isn¡¯t mentioned certain events can let you evolve a class sooner though you can hold off and it will appear as an option for your next class evolution. Because you get quite a few stat points from a base class people with one tend to take the wait option. Chapter 5 - Less tech More medieval I should be able to continue with writing the story. This first week of college was wonky, but that was mostly figuring out how to get everywhere I need to be. All I have to worry about now is eating too much because the meal plan includes an all you can eat restaurant. *rawr*

So the train was a train. More armored though as there are ventilation shafts every so often and sometimes monsters get in but a train none the less. I would like to get back on it and leave this frontier town but I don¡¯t have enough for a return trip. This place makes me think I accidentally fell into a fantasy game instead of a science fiction game. At least I know why the person I am looking for can make a living as a blacksmith here. Better ask around to find his place. --- A while longer than it should have been --- And there''s his place. Finally. Apparently the guy got tipped off about the Mechanic round up in the city and went to his place out near the forest. It took making about the dumbest oath to find his place. I just had to restate my previous oath but with less restrictions. At that point the locals were okay with telling me where to go. A quick cleanup and let¡¯s see if he is home. *knock knock knock* ¡ *knock knock knock* Blacksmith? ~ ¡°Ah hear you. Stop with the knocking. Be there in a second.¡± *door creaks open* Blacksmith? ~ ¡°Bah, whats a Traveller doing in these parts. To make it here you''re either lucky or sworn against that fool pretending to rule the world. I don¡¯t have guns and I am a sub par blacksmith. Go find another fool to fix your sharp and shinnies or whatever.¡± ¡°I heard a story that you were a Mechanic in the past and¡± *The man draws back and reaches for something besides the door* Blacksmith? ~ ¡°So are you here to take me out? I know that rat in the capital would find me but not this quickly.¡± ¡°Whoa there, I already made a couple oaths not to join that guy. Dile¡¯s mystery friend pointed me towards you. Apparently Dile liked the oath I made to get out of the scout base.¡± Blacksmith? ~ ¡°Ah, you''re a brand new Traveller then.¡± *He eases back though a sharp glint is barely visible next to the door* Blacksmith? ~ ¡°Chose the wrong world to end up on though.¡± ¡°I sort of left it up to fate. My plan is to get off the planet as soon as possible.¡± Mechanic(Blacksmith?) ~ ¡°Guess that is a good decision though for being given the choice of where to go and not using it placed you in a situation. Anyway being a Mechanic is more than just a repair monkey. To advance down this path you need to forge your own way and create your own destiny. Since you come from Dile I will give you extra. You will have a harder time because of it for my way is the hard way and will set you down a road with no shortcuts.¡± ¡°Um, melodramatic though I must admit that the hard path doesn¡¯t worry me. I have seen what a hard path is and believe me. For me this isn¡¯t that.¡± Mechanic ~ ¡°Good, you look the part of a man ready for whatever the universe might throw at you. One last thing though. Unlike other trainers I won¡¯t just bop you on the head and grant you some skills but rather train you in the arts. This will take time and while you Travellers learn faster for most things you might end up here for a month.¡± ¡°That would delay leaving but this seems like it will be worth it.¡± --- And so let the Montage of scenes proceed --- Third day and I know why he didn¡¯t ask for any money to teach me. Stuck me with doing all the blacksmith repair work. On one hand he gave me the smithing skills, on the other I half think this is only taking so long so he can do less work. --- Tenth day and second time I leave the pod. First time I came back to find my body being used to hold down papers like a damn paper weight. This time I think I scheduled it right so it will seem I am sleeping --- Eleventh day has me waking up to my body being used to block a draft in his hut. How can he tell when I am logged out? --- Sixteenth day, I have never seen anything about what I learned today. Looks like I will get a tinkering skill. This definitely looks to be worth it as it will let me improve my stuff, at least on this planet. Once I get to a world with better tech I probably cannot do as much. --- Twenty Second day was short. He had me make daggers as quickly as possible and without repeating a style. At the end my designs wouldn¡¯t win in a fight against a paper bag but he didn¡¯t seem to care. --- Twenty Fifth day surprised me. What was by the door that I wasn¡¯t able to spot before was apparently a laser gun of sorts. He came from a different planet with a better tech rating. Didn¡¯t think I would see one on this world in the least bit. Most surprising though is I suspect it isn¡¯t just a base tech laser gun but rather at least TL12 and maybe even as high as TL14. Not going to ask though as sticking my nose into something so many levels above seems like a good way to be reduced to ash. Anyway he taught me how to use it though that can just go on the pile of skills labeled as currently unusable. --- Thirtieth day seems to be the last. He says by the end of today I should get the class. Also once I get it he will tell me his actual name. Something about ¡°only then will you be worthy¡±. With my luck he is probably on the run from something big. I suspect though that it will be a while before people could connect me to him. Anyway the plan for today seems to make my toolkit for the job. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. --- End of Montage --- Finally the day is done. Time to see what I ended up with. I didn¡¯t even earn any stat points despite all the work I did though it seems like that might just be a part of the training system. Mechanic ~ ¡°Okay, you made it through all that. With this your class should officially change to Mechanic though before we get to that let me tell you who I am. My given name is Thar, and I my title is the Mad. You will be my first apprentice ever so don¡¯t disappoint me boy.¡± *Ding*

Base Class Acquired
Class Name	Mechanic
Point Growth	+2 MF, +2 Agi, +1 Free
Basic Skills
Name	Rank
Tinker	Beginner 3
Repair	Beginner 7
Craft	Beginner 5
Tool Proficiency	Beginner 4
Laser Weapon Proficiency	Beginner 1
Scrounge	Beginner 3
Blacksmithing	Beginner 5

That is a few more skills than I was expecting. Time to check what two of them do (including one I knew would be there, didn¡¯t check it out originally).

Tinker

Allows modification of equipment one has sufficient understanding of to allow better performance. Higher levels will allow for more specialized modifications at the cost of penalties related to the benefit.

Tool Proficiency

Provides bonuses to combat with tools one uses for production and repair skills. Only counts those you have the skill to use.

Definitely like what I see though I guess I better check my stats.

Status Panel
NAME	Jade
Class	Mechanic	LEVEL	1
RACE	Human	SUB-RACE	Far Human
TITLES
Interesting

Basic Stats
Strength	5 ¡ü8	Agility	10 ¡ü11 ¡ü13
Vitality	6 ¡ü9	Mental Fortitude	11 ¡ü12 ¡ü14
Unspent Points	1
Advanced Stats
Leadership	2	Luck	13 ¡ü14
Qi	1

Health Points	16 ¡ü36	Health Regen	.05/sec ¡ü.16/sec
Stamina Points	16 ¡ü35	Stamina Regen	.08/sec ¡ü.23/sec
Talent Points	24 ¡ü42	Talent Regen	.12/sec ¡ü.17/sec

SKILLS
Name	Rank
Repair	Beginner 7
Craft	Beginner 5
Blacksmithing	Beginner 5
Tool Proficiency	Beginner 4
Tinker	Beginner 3
Scrounge	Beginner 3
Laser Weapon Proficiency	Beginner 1

TALENTS
Prestidigitation	15

So how do you like the montage? Never really paid attention to how others did it so I went with something simple. Also you might notice his Luck went up by 1. This isn¡¯t class related but rather the system considered being able to find such a good teacher for his class as being lucky. Might end up with some color scheme for the numbers but that will come later when I don¡¯t have to go to sleep. Chapter 6 - Qi Tinkering Working on my table templates. I have taken web dev classes in the past so besides the fact it is tables I can grock it. Wish I had more control of the column widths. Besides that we had a nice snowstorm here. Mostly stayed in my dorm unless I went for food. Nice all you can eat thing where I stayed for a good few hours and snacked while listening to some podcasts. *rawr*

Huh, my level got set to 1. Anyway I think I will hold onto that free point. No reason to spend it. ¡°Well, I have all I expected though a couple of skills are there I wasn¡¯t expecting or at a higher level¡± Mechanic ~ ¡°Yeah, that''ll happen if a you find a good teacher. This is the upside of me teaching you for the past month. The downside is that by teaching you personally unless you find a hidden class or something of the like your next class is set to what I chose. Helps if your teacher has a hidden class or something similar. This skips you needing to unlock it. Also doesn¡¯t hurt you if they have the class you are getting.¡± ¡°I was expecting something of the sort when I saw the extra skills. Though with that what am I getting? You sort of avoided mentioning it.¡± Mechanic ~ ¡°That my boy, will stay a mystery till you get there. What I taught you has is interesting side. Anyway, after working on your gear you should head to the forest. By my guess the bastards in the capital should get near here soon. Oh, and make a giant wrench. Good weapon for someone starting out like you when you can¡¯t have a laser pistol. I will leave for now as any suggestions I make could limit your progress.¡± --- Crafting/Tinkering Time --- Giant wrench he says. Am I going to be steampunk? Anyway, let''s work on my gear with Tinker. First up is my belt.

Rookie Leather Belt
Slot	Waist	Material	Leather
Defense	1	Durability	10/10
Description
A decent belt made by a beginner without the skill

Okay, not the best and I must admit the need to pick up leather working if I want to continue making my gear. Anyway what does Tinker say about it.

Tinkering	Rookie Leather Belt
Add Metal Plates to increase defense and change material to Metal/Leather	Add Leather Pouches to allow storage of items

The first option looks good as it would let me use Metalsmithing with it. Apparently if you have the skill to make an item you can repair it better, go figure. I will go with the storage option. Now just choose the option and. Ah it provides a ghostly overlay of what it wants me to do. Scrounge! *Scrap leather in the corner glows* Ah that is where I put the leftover leather from making the belt. Good thing I kept it as the pouches will match.

Leather Pouch Belt
Slot	Waist	Material	Leather
Defense	2	Durability	12/12
Description
A decent belt made by a beginner without the skill and further upgrade with pouches to hold small items.

Hmm, the defense still went up along with the durability. Seems the Tinker skill only tells you the major effects of the upgrades. --- Time passes and Tinkering happens --- That took a while. Anyway here are the results.

Iron Toed Boots
Slot	Feet	Material	Metal/Leather
Defense	6	Durability	20/20
Description
Starter boots upgraded with well made iron plates for armor.

Agile Leather Pants
Slot	Legs	Material	Leather
Defense	2	Durability	12/12
Agility Bonus	1
Description
Starter pants changed to allow for easier movement which boosts one¡¯s agility.

Padded Leather Shirt with Iron Plates
Slot	Chest	Material	Metal/Leather
Defense	10	Durability	24/24
Description
Starter shirt which has had padding and metal plates added to increase defense without losing agility.

Fingerless Leather Gloves
Slot	Hands	Material	Leather
Defense	1	Durability	8/8
Description
Decently made gloves with the fingers removed to remove penalty to fine movements.

Hat with Goggles
Slot	Head	Material	Metal/Leather
Defense	4	Durability	15/15
Description
Decently made hat with some Goggles attached and metal support.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Most options where in the same vein of my belt. Add metal or add a feature. It is probably affected by the low level Tinker skill and having a limited number of crafting skills. The hat option was weird as it let me add my pre-existing goggles to it. Anyway still have to craft my wrench weapon. Thar said I can use Tinker with a crafting skill to have a slight boost to the usual results as you can do much more when starting from scratch.

Tinkering	Large Wrench
Choose 2
Extra Large, Make it bigger and reduce it¡¯s ability to be used while increasing the damage.	Add some spikes to increase damage but mostly just makes the damage piercing
Craft it by folding the metal over and over like those famous swords though this will mostly just up the durability	Qi circuit, Your knowledge of Qi and modern electronics has allowed you to potentially combine the two. Until tested you will not know if this works.

Huh, I was expecting being able to choose 2 but that Qi option was unexpected. Using it as a circuit is weird. though I guess it is just another type of energy. What material to use for the circuits is the biggest question. Worth the chance of a dud to see what it says. Besides that spikes are a good option. The wrench is already big enough at about the size of a sword and less durable means the quicker I can make a new one. Tinker only works once and from what I observed unless you level up your skills enough or realize something you are stuck with what you choose for an item. *Ding*

You have chosen an experimental Tinker option. The material you use and how you use it will affect the resulting product

Wasn¡¯t expecting this though I guess it is a good thing Thar left. Time to test out the metals I have to see if I can shove Qi in them.

Iron	No input and no capacity
Copper	Poor input and able to hold Qi
Tin	Worst input and no capacity
Bronze	Second worst input and able to hold Qi
Silver	Best input and no capacity
Shibuichi	Good input and able to hold Qi

Don¡¯t know why there is a Japanese alloy name but the 1 part silver and 3 parts copper alloy works the best for what I want. What form the circuit takes should be simple. Just going to design it so the Qi flows to the spikes. I am assuming my low quantity of Qi limits my ability to research materials for now. Good thing I researched instead of using iron though. Now let¡¯s see what this creates.

Spiked Large Qi Wrench
Slot	Single Hand	Material	Metal
Damage	2d4+3	Durability	50/50
Armor Piercing	3	???	May have special ability
Description
A decently made Large wrench with spikes to pierce things. There are silvery sigils added to it in hope of adding a special ability. Testing will show if this worked.

*Ding*

Tinker level Increased to 5 from 3

Blacksmithing level Increased to 6 from 5

Scrounge level Increased to 4 from 3

Craft level increased to 6 from 5

Gained Silversmithing Beginner 1

Nice, Tinker leveled up twice from this. Though I suspect it was close to leveling up before but a full level is still nothing to sneeze at. Just getting most of my skills to level would be worth it even without gaining one. The circuit turned out better than I was expecting as I could guide the alloy with my Talent. That does mean I am all sweaty now as I can¡¯t just use it to clean myself but whatever. Now to test it. *Slowly my Qi flows into the wrench and the tips of the spikes get a hazy look around them* Okay that may mean it worked or at least it didn¡¯t explode in my face. Seems to look like a poor attempt at a Qi infused punch so hopefully it isn¡¯t a healing effect or something stupid like that. Guess what¡¯s left is to head towards the forest.

As I told someone in the comments on the last chapter but he has been avoiding any use of his Qi because it is just too rare. On the internet in his real life they believe no player has Qi. Once he is in the forest and certain no one is observing him he will cut loose and see what he can do with it. Both on his weapon and with his fists. Also I didn¡¯t get a good place to mention it but the italicized text in the item description don¡¯t show up for most people who identify it. The only reason he can see it himself is he crafted it and even then he can¡¯t see the potential ability. I should really see about getting him an identify skill of some sort. Chapter 7 - Into the Forest? Time for some combat, comments on it would be appreciated. Also, as it is his wrench is about the size of a short sword but future plans involve a nice and big one for him. Probably one he can lean against like a walking stick. Also his current one really emphasizes the spikes. The next time he makes a wrench the spikes will be more like what you see on studded armor. *rawr*

A quick goodbye to Thar with only a questioning look at my wrench and I could set off. It only takes me a little less than half an hour to walk to the edge of the forest. It looks ominous actually. Have you ever seen a mountain covered in trees? How the trees get higher and higher on the mountain? Well, it looks sort of like that except I know for a fact that the land is flat as a pancake. The edge seems to be normal though. *Behind me a loud explosive sound and suddenly I am flying a good number of feet* *-5 hp* ¡°ooph¡± Okay that hurt now what the hell just hit me. A quick glance as I attempt to roll out of the way of any follow up attack and I see a giant leg pierce the ground right where I just was. And it¡¯s a giant trapdoor spider as tall as me. Fuck my life, I have to guess that area that looked misty out in the distance probably isn¡¯t. Oh and stop thinking and start fighting. *A quick dodge to the side barely gets me out of the way of another attack* *-1 hp* No fair, pebbles shouldn¡¯t sting that much. Dammit take this! *Having recovered my footing I pull out my wrench and take a swing* *Crunch, the spikes pierce one of the spider¡¯s front leg* Yeah, take that you stupid spider. *Suddenly another leg is coming at me from my back and I barely manage to dodge* Good thing the spider is slow. Better stay away from anything like a giant wolf spider who would probably be quite fast. Anyway let¡¯s take advantage of its miss. *I with a bit of effort wrench the wrench out of it¡¯s leg and try to hit one of the spider¡¯s eyes. Almost miss it entirely as the spider dodge backward but I with great effort turn my swing and get a glancing blow to the spider¡¯s other front leg.* *Quickly both the spider¡¯s legs are coming straight down at me and in desperation throw myself to the side. The legs barely brush past me but I still get thrown a few more feet.* *-2 hp* *I brace myself and hit the ground rolling. Through mostly luck I pop back up to my feet and quickly turn around.* It seems the spider¡¯s front legs got caught in the ground. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. *I run up to the side of the spider and bring my wrench down into where it¡¯s two parts meet causing major bleeding. With that I pull the wrench out while dragging it across the spider¡¯s body.* Seems the spider has gotten it¡¯s legs out of the ground now. Let¡¯s just focus on dodging for now as it seems quite hurt. It can¡¯t be that tough on the forest¡¯s edge. *The spider tries to ram into me, probably to grapple. Having prepared for it I dodge to the side and run around behind it* It seems to turn slowly and at this point I think it¡¯s movements have slowed down from the injuries. *Another attack and another dodge for me* Oh, hey, no running you stupid spider! *I run to attack it when a last spurt of it¡¯s live blood comes flowing out and the spider collapses.* ¡°Haaaa¡± Well that was tougher than expected. There goes my hope of an easy time with some horned rabbits or some other low level chumps. Dang it I lost 8hp to the thing! That¡¯s almost a fourth of my max health. Also worse than the fact it was so tough to beat is that it¡¯s still there. Since the body didn¡¯t disappear and leave loot it means I have to harvest it myself if I want anything. Might as well get around to it. --- A very bloody (or should I say Ichory?) hour later --- *ding*

Gained Rough Butchering (Arachnid) Beginner 1

Rough Butchering (Arachnid) increased to 2 from 1

Okay that sucked. None of the meat is salvageable as I apparently busted the poison sacks while fighting it or something. Anyway I managed to extract the last segments of the front legs without damaging them. Besides that nothing else was worth it after taking it apart as I don¡¯t have the room in my backpack. So wish that the game had an inventory system. I hear that really high tech levels have things like storage bags/rings but people have only ever found those as artifacts. Guess I need some sort of vehicle in the future.

This chapter I kept a little short as it is the first battle scene and I wanted to see what you all think? Also no, Jade won¡¯t be getting some sort of storage device in any near future circumstance. We are talking ~20 tech level stuff for that. It would be easier for him to get a force field than a storage device. Anyway, yeah comments on the fight would be wonderful. Chapter 8 - Into the Forest! Sorry for the gap in chapters. I plan going forward to try for at least once a week. College comes first so no guarantees. *rawr*

Damn it, I forgot to try my Qi on the spider. Next time when I am not being ambushed testing can begin. Anyway, time to head into the forest. Still about a hundred feet from the trees. *With more caution I head towards the forest. Once I have gotten into the trees everything seemed to fall quiet as the wind stopped. Only the occasional creak of the trees accompanied me.* While I wasn¡¯t expecting herds of animals I am disappointed at the amount of creatures. Deeper in isn¡¯t an option, especially with the possibility of giant spiders. I guess after a few hundred more feet I should walk while following the forest¡¯s edge. --- ~10 minutes later --- Okay, up ahead I can hear water noises. At least there should be Some animals there. *As I approach the water a clearing appears ahead of me. A creek burbles through it and for the first time since I entered the forest there is actual sunlight. Next to the water a small herd of 7 animals is present.* Getting closer I suppress the urge to laugh. It looks like I get to face horned rabbits at least in spirit. The small animals while looking like a rabbit it probably falls under a more lizardly category. At about twice the size of a normal rabbit, covered in a sensible coat of forest green scales, and sporting what looks to be a set of sharp horns from their forehead just above their eyes they make a weird sight. Strangest though is that instead of a cottontail as it where they seem to have a mass of feathery scales in that classic puffball shape. I wasn¡¯t planning in particular to fight them till I saw what they were gathered around. These bunnies are carnivores. A ¡°small¡± cat sized spider corpse is strewn across the grass. Yeah their horns are apparently deadly enough as those holes in the corpse can attest. This might be a lucky break for me as they all seem to be distracted with eating it. *I sneak to the edge of the clearing. Then all the rabbits turn to look at me* ¡ I guess those ears aren''t for nothing then. Now at least I know why they didn¡¯t have one on lookout. Time test that Qi out. *A quick glance to each side to make sure I¡¯m not being flanked and I start infusing my wrench. Not waiting for it to finish I rush into the clearing. The biggest of the enemy seeing this jumps at me in an attempt to gore my stomach. With the rabbit now in the air I swing my wrench like a bat to try to hit it off course. The wrench connects and slams the rabbit to the side into a tree. As it connected a barely visible shock wave seems to come off of the spikes as they are piercing causing some it to bleed heavily.* Well now I know that the spikes work though I definitely designed it wrong. Sadly though the glow seems to be slow in coming back. *Having successfully diverted the Alpha I head towards the rest of the herd hoping to finish some of the weaker looking one. An overhead swing smashes into one of the smallest rabbits as it attempts to attack me. With that the small rabbit is crushed into the ground with just one swing not even twitching. Suddenly a sharp pain in my side distracts me* *-5hp* Another damn small one pincer attacked me! I won¡¯t stand for that. *I reach for the rabbit but it quickly jumps away as the two regular rabbits come at me. There isn¡¯t a way to dodge both so I swing my wrench at the left one while trying to slam the other. A loud bang happens as I slam the one rabbit while the other avoids my wrench at the cost of it¡¯s attack.* *The spikes are glowing again so hoping for a quick kill I bring the wrench back and bash it down on the rabbit I just slammed. The shock wave from the spikes seem to pulverize it. My quick attack killed it but now the Alpha seems to have recovered and is coming at me again. Along with it the three small rabbits flank me to attack. Having learned it¡¯s lesson the Alpha approaches me carefully. Sadly for it this gives me enough time to take a swing at one of the small rabbits and smash it into the ground.* Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. *Enraged at seeing another of its herd slaughtered the Alpha gives up the cautious approach and once again jumps at me. The two remaining small rabbits follow suit. With this I can¡¯t dodge them all so I bring my wrench up to block the Alpha.* *-3hp, -3hp* *A loud clang rings out as the Alpha¡¯s horns meet my wrench. At this the small rabbits try to retreat but I am ready this time. With a quick grab I catch one of them. Turning around I bring the struggling rabbit up in time to block the final normal rabbit.* *Throwing the small rabbit to the side I swipe at the normal rabbit grazing it¡¯s back. Following through with my swing I barely manage to catch the Alpha as it attacks me from behind. My wrench slams into it¡¯s side. Once again the Alpha is blasted into a nearby tree. A sharp pain radiates from my back as a small one slams into me but then dies as it bleeds out.* *-3hp* *Though distracted by that I still see the normal rabbit come at me again. A quick side step and I dodge it¡¯s attack. While the rabbit recovers it¡¯s balance my wrench smashes it down.Pulling my wrench free with my backswing I slam into the Alpha just as the glowing has recharged. With that the Alpha hits the ground and bleeds out. The last two rabbits, seeing their leader dead, panic and run into the forest. Feeling that was enough I don¡¯t follow.* Well that could have gone worse. Luckily while slow to charge my weapons Qi attack seems to cause internal bleeding. Though seeing how it seems to work I wish I hadn¡¯t gone with the spikes now. The circuit causes a shock wave which would be better with a blunt weapon. Anyway I better harvest them before anything worse shows up. --- After some bloody butchering --- *ding*

Gained Rough Butchering (Mammal) Beginner 1

Rough Butchering (Mammal) increased to 3 from 1

Sadly I only got the horns off of the bigger rabbits and only the Alpha¡¯s pelt was any good. Least there will be a good bit of meat for dinner. Oh yeah, apparently the things are called Rabliz. While it looks like a boring mash up of the first few letters of rabbit and lizard it is a native word or at least that¡¯s what the pop-up told me. Probably the most surprising bit was they are mammals. At least that is what I gather from the fact I got mammal butchering. *ding*

Two Butchering subskills found

Gain one more to merge them into Rough Butchering. If completed within a month and before any of the subskills reach Basic rank as a reward you will instead get Butchering.

Ah, well that just brings up the question of how to find fish or a real lizard then. I have to guess the only reason I am getting this so easy is my experience from my previous life. Though I would lose this help in a heartbeat if it means I can keep my Qi now. Actually that reminds me I need to take a look at my wrench.

With this we finally see him using his Qi to attack. Of course with some cultivation and better equipment it will work better. Also don¡¯t worry that I will be keeping it to only specialized weapons. Later on once he has more there will be the more standard sort of techniques being used occasionally. Chapter 9 - And let us Nope out of there Hello everyone! More changes to the past. No longer do we get to see the damage done to enemies. It didn¡¯t feel right for how I want the game world to work. It is supposed to seem in most ways realistic. As it is I am keeping Hp and the display of our hero¡¯s damage taken. *rawr*

Okay, this is getting annoying. I have been wandering for an hour since the rabliz. There is nothing here. With this I have to head further in. I haven¡¯t even filled a tenth of my pack. I need to fill it will good quality goods. If I do then I be able to get out of here. Well, further and farther in I guess. *As I head farther into the forest the trees are spread thinner while their trunks get thicker. Ahead I see my first signs of creatures. The bark of the tree ahead is scratche.* Something must have been marking its territory here. The scratches only being at around knee height whatever caused this shouldn¡¯t be too big. Sadly, I am not a hunter or scout of any sort so I can¡¯t track it. Meh, guess I can just trudge around the area. *As I go around the tree in widening circles I hear something off farther into the forest. Sneaking towards it the closer I get the more noise there is. It sounds like a battle is taking place. Soon I see two creatures going at each other.* One of them seems to be a wolf at least as big as a cow. On the creature''s front paws it has claws like that of a velociraptor and its tail appears to be made of spikes like it was a porcupine. Fighting it is what seems to be a giant spider except not. The back 4 legs are normal enough but the front ones are bad news. The middle legs have a trio of giant spikes. They seem to be less for fighting and more for stability. Those legs in the front though are like a death god¡¯s scythe and I am mostly certain legs don¡¯t have that many joints. *While I watch the fight gets even more heated. The scythe spider just stands in one place, whipping its front legs around fast enough to sound like a pair of whips. The wolf on the other hand was dashing around so fast it left afterimages as it nimbly avoided the attacks.* If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Well, this isn¡¯t a fight I can join. Nice to watch but I suspect if I stay around till it is over then I would be as well. Not that I need to guess much as the wolf keeps glancing at me and I have to assume the spider knows I am here. Anyway time to leave. *With that I turn around to go.* Yeah it would not be that easy. Behind me there was a nice little horde of spiders. Mind you these would only fit in the palm of my hand. The battlefield seems to be surrounded except for the direction I don¡¯t want to go. Guess it is time to go farther into the forest. As I am running the spiders only threaten me if I get close to them so I should be able to get away. --- A few minutes of running later --- There doesn¡¯t seem to be any creatures following me anymore. Though I am lost now. If anything to get out I just have to go toward smaller trees. I should look around for now. The complete lack of creatures is creeping me out. All the people said it was a populated place. Something has gone wrong since people stopped coming here. Well time to explore. --- ~30 minutes later --- Nothing Nothing Nothing Trees Nothing Goodness gracious, just a bunch of nothing. With keeping to this area I have found nothing of interest. A bit deeper I saw webs I think. At this rate I could be stuck on the planet for much longer than I would care to be. Farther in it is I guess. As I head towards the webbed area I can almost hear something. On approach the webs seem to sway in the wind. Noting the lack of wind this worries me. There doesn¡¯t seem to be any spiders here but as my experience at the edge shows that means nothing. *I enter the webbed area slowly. Nothing seems to happen then a sound behind me* --- And fade to black ---

Short chapter for today. Sorry about that. Squeezed on time right now. So I feel I went beyond my abilities with this story The bad news is I don''t plan on continueing this story. I overstepped my ability with this and learned a few leasons from it. The story seed that started it was really good but I wasn''t ready to combine the two concepts and my ability to describe crafting isn''t quite good enough at the moment. I really enjoy crafting stories but I will have to put actually writing one on the backburner for a few stories. Now the good news is I don''t want to give up on the idea behind this. The thought of a cultivator being reincarnated into a scifi world and playing a VR game is really interesting to me. The setting for the VR game though will be changed and the story is going to be basically restarted. I am going to go with a fantasy setting and a single world. I must admit that going with a scifi setting was less because I had a good story for it and more because I was reading a scifi story at the time. My grounding in fantasy and myth is much firmer. Also because I am somewhat tired of the twist I promise that there won''t be any "reality was fake and the VR was real" nor just the "VR is real" in general. They are good twists but it feels like I have seen too many good stories take that turn recentlyish. There will however be a slight touch of "Your skills translate between the game and life" going on because I like the idea of old masters going into the game and kicking butt as well as someone learning how to cook in VR then being able to in reality. That is one of the big things about "real VR", if you learn how to crack an egg into a frying pan it shouldn''t change too much in either one. Though there will be a bit of depth to that as just killing weak monsters to grind your sword skill and letting system assist do it wouldn''t allow you to be a sword master in reality.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Lastly as a bit of neutral news the time between chapters will more on the weekly scale. More specifically it probably won''t be anything like every monday but rather a chapter whenever I have a day off. Neither here nor there really. Just how life works out. Link to the Reboot Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note. Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note. Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note. Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note. Required content is required. Link to the reboot is above in the note.